BV  4501  .M664  1897 
Morgan,  G.  Campbell  1863 

1945. 
Discipleship 


Discipleship 


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NEW  TOBK                       CHICAGO                      TOBONTO 

Discipleship 


BY 


Rev.  G.  Campbell  Morgan 

Pastor  of  New  Court  Congregational  Church 
Tollington  Park,  London 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature 


Copyright,  1897, 

BY 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 


To  my  Wife. — In  whose  unobtrusive  and 
consistent  discipleship  I  have  found  the  in- 
spiration of  service,  and  that  sense  of  "sanc- 
tuary" in  the  home  which  has  been  largely 
the  strength  of  service  also, — I  dedicate  this, 
my  first  book. 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE 

This  booklet  is  not  intended  to  be  a 
contribution  to  theology,  nor  is  it  ad- 
dressed to  theologians  as  such.  Not 
that  they  or  their  work  is  undervalued. 
They — of  varied  schools — have  placed 
the  writer  under  a  debt  to  them  that  he 
is  unable  to  discharge. 

It  is  intended  to  be,  along  practical 
lines,  an  aid  to  the  disciples  of  Jesus, 
and  that,  by  endeavoring  to  show  in 
some  measure,  the  eminent  practicability 
of  being  a  Christian,  in  the  power  of 
the  life  communicated  by  and  sustained 
in  Christ  through  the  Holy  Spirit. 

It  is  further  intended  to  reveal  the 

actual   effect   on  this  present  life,  for 

ennobling   it  in   all  its  relations,  and 

filling  it  with  all  joy  and  beauty,  of 

7 


Author's  Note 

the   ultimate  intention  of  the  Master 
for  all  His  disciples. 

To  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  help  of 
fellow-disciples  it  is  therefore  prayer- 
fully sent  forth  on  its  mission. 

G.  Campbell  Morgan. 

New  Court  Congregational  Church, 
London, 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAG* 

I.  Becoming  a  Disciple U 

II.  First  Lessons 22 

III.  The  Method  of  Advancement  .    .  32 

IV.  The  Disciple  at  Home     ....  44 
V.  The  Disciple  at  Business    ...  55 

VI.  The  Disciple  at  Play      ....    66 
VII.  The  Disciple  as  a  Friend  ...    75 
VIII.  The    Disciple   at  work  for  the 

Master 86 

IX.  The  Disciple  in  Sorrow  ....    93 

X.  The  Disciple  in  Joy 108 

XI.  The  Disciple  Going  Home    .    .    .  117 
XII.  The  Disciple  in  Glory    ,    .    ,    .  126 


Discipleship 


BECOMING  A  DISCIPLE 

At  the  feet  of  Jesus 

Is  the  place  for  me, 
There,  a  humble  learner, 

Would  I  choose  to  be. 

—P.  P.  Bliss. 

"  Disciples  "  is  the  term  consistently 
used  in  the  four  Gospels  to  mark  the 
relationship  existing  between  Christ  and 
His  followers.  Jesus  used  it  Himself  in 
speaking  of  them,  and  they  in  speaking 
of  each  other.  Neither  did  it  pass  out 
of  use  in  the  new  days  of  Pentecostal 
power.  It  runs  right  through  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles.  It  is  interesting  also 
to  remember  that  it  was  on  this  wise 
that  the  angels  thought  and  spoke  of 
these  men ;  the  use  of  the  word  in  the 
days  of  the  Incarnation  is  linked  to  the 
11 


Discipleship 

use  of  the  word  in  the  apostolic  age  by 
the  angelic  message  to  the  women,  "  Go, 

tell    His    Disciples    and    Peter" 

(Mark  xvi.  7). 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  the 
word  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Epistles. 
This  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  the  Epistles  were  addressed  to 
Christians  in  their  corporate  capacity 
as  churches,  and  so  spoke  of  them  as 
members  of  such,  and  as  the  "  saints  " 
or  separated  ones  of  God.  The  term 
disciple  marks  an  individual  relation- 
ship, and  though  it  has  largely  fallen 
out  of  use,  it  is  of  the  utmost  value 
still  in  marking  that  relationship,  exist- 
ing between  Christ  and  each  single 
soul,  and  suggesting  our  consequent 
position  in  all  the  varied  circumstances 
of  everyday  living.  It  is  to  that  study 
we  desire  to  come  in  this  series  of  pa- 
pers. 

1.  The  word  itself  (/xa<V^?)  signifies 
a  taught  or  trained  one,  and  gives  us 
the  ideal  of  relationship.  Jesus  is  the 
Teacher.  He  has  all  knowledge  of  the 
ultimate  purposes  of  God  for  man,  of 
the  will  of  God  concerning  man,  of  the 

12 


Becoming  a  Disciple 

laws  of  God  that  mark  for  man  the  path 
of  his  progress  and  final  crowning. 

Disciples  are  those  who  gather  around 
this  Teacher  and  are  trained  by  Him. 
Seekers  after  truth,  not  merely  in  the 
abstract,  but  as  a  life  force,  come  to  Him 
and  join  the  circle  of  those  to  whom 
He  reveals  these  great  secrets  of  all  true 
life.  Sitting  at  His  feet,  they  learn 
from  the  unfolding  of  His  lessons  the 
will  and  ways  of  God  for  them ;  and 
obeying  each  successive  word,  they  real- 
ize within  themselves,  the  renewing 
force  and  uplifting  power  thereof.  The 
true  and  perpetual  condition  of  dis- 
cipleship,  and  its  ultimate  issue,  were 
clearly  declared  by  the  Lord  Himself 
uto  those  Jews  which  believed  on  Him.,, 
11  If  ye  abide  in  My  word,  then  are  ye 
truly  My  disciples ;  and  ye  shall  know 
the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you 
free  "  (John  viii.  31). 

Before  considering  the  glorious  en- 
duement  the  Teacher  confers  on  every 
disciple,  and  the  stern  requirements  that 
guard  the  entrance  to  discipleship,  it  is 
very  important  that  we  should  have 
clearly  outlined  in  our  minds  the  true 
13 


Discipleship 

meaning  of  this  phase  of  the  relation- 
ship, which  Jesus  bears  to  His  people. 

It  is  not  that  of  a  lecturer,  from  whose 
messages  men  may  or  may  not  deduce 
applications  for  themselves.  It  is  not 
that  of  a  prophet  merely,  making  a  Di- 
vine pronouncement,  and  leaving  the  is- 
sues of  the  same.  It  certainly  is  not 
that  of  a  specialist  on  a  given  subject, 
declaring  his  knowledge,  to  the  interest 
tf  a  few,  the  amazement  of  more,  and 
the  bewilderment  of  most.  It  is  none 
of  these. 

It  is  that  of  a  teacher — Himself  pos- 
sessing full  knowledge, — bending  over 
a  pupil,  and  for  a  set  purpose,  with 
an  end  in  view,  imparting  knowledge 
step  by  step,  point  by  point,  ever  work- 
ing on  toward  a  definite  end.  That 
conception  includes  also  the  true  ideal 
of  our  position.  We  are  not  casual  lis- 
teners, neither  are  we  merely  interested 
hearers  desiring  information,  we  are  dis- 
ciples, looking  toward  and  desiring  the 
same  end  as  the  Master,  and  therefore 
listening  to  every  word,  marking  every 
inflection  of  voice  that  carries  meaning, 
and  applying  all  our  energy  to  realizing 
14 


Becoming  a  Disciple 

the  Teacher's  purpose  for  us.  Such  is 
the  ideal. 

2.  Now  let  us  consider  the  privileges 
that  the  Teacher  confers  upon  those 
who  become  His  disciples. 

I.  The  first  is  the  establishment  of 
those  relations  which  make  it  possible 
for  Him  to  teach  and  for  us  to  be 
taught.  The  question  of  sin  must  be 
dealt  with,  and  that  which  results  from 
sin — our  inability  to  understand  the 
teaching.  Christ  never  becomes  a 
teacher  to  those  who  are  living  in  sin. 
Sin  as  actual  transgression  in  the  past, 
must  be  pardoned,  and  sin  as  a  principle 
of  revolution  within  must  be  cleansed. 
So  before  He  unfolds  one  word  of  the 
Divine  law  of  life,  or  reveals  in  any 
particular  the  line  of  progress,  He  deals 
with  this  twofold  aspect  of  sin.  To  the 
soul  judging  past  sin,  by  confessing  it 
and  turning  from  it,  He  dispenses  for- 
giveness, pronouncing  His  priestly  abso- 
lution by  virtue  of  His  own  atonement 
on  the  Cross.  To  the  soul  yielded  to 
Him  absolutely  and  unreservedly,  con- 
senting to  the  death  of  self,  He  gives 
the    blessing    of    cleansing    from    sin. 

15 


Discipleship 

This  statement  of  His  dealing  with  us  is 
not  intended  to  mark  an  order  of  proce- 
dure from  pardon  to  cleansing.  It  is 
rather  the  declaration  of  the  twofold  as- 
pect of  the  first  work  of  Christ  for  His 
disciples,  the  bestowment  of  the  initial 
blessing.  In  practical  experience,  men 
constantly,  though  not  invariably,  and 
not  necessarily,  realize  the  first-named 
first  in  order.  That  is  the  result  of  the 
overwhelming  and  largely  selfish  desire 
of  personal  safety,  a  desire  which  is  the 
natural  and  proper  outcome  of  the  di- 
vinely imparted  instinct  of  self-preser- 
vation. Nevertheless  they  ought  at 
once,  for  the  higher  reason  of  God's 
glory,  to  seek  to  realize  the  deeper  side 
of  the  one  blessing,  that  of  cleansing. 
But  His  patience  is  manifested  in  our 
folly.  He  forgives  and  graciously  waits. 
When  we  look  at  Him  again  and  say 
"  Master,  there  is  more  in  Thy  cross 
than  pardon,"  then  He  makes  us  con- 
scious of  His  power  to  cleanse.  Certain 
it  is,  that  there  can  be  no  real  disciple- 
ship apart  from  the  realization  of  the 
twofold  blessing.  Beyond  this  there 
lies  the  dullness  of  our  understanding, 
16 


Becoming  a  Disciple 

our  inability  to  comprehend  the  truths 
He  declares.  This  He  overcomes  by 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  makes 
clear  to  us  the  teaching  of  the  Master. 
What  a  priceless  gift  this  is.  The  dull- 
est natural  intellect  may  be,  and  is, 
rendered  keen  and  receptive  Godward, 
by  the  incoming  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

So  He  Himself  provides  for,  and 
creates,  the  relationships  of  communion 
through  cleansing,  and  intelligence 
through  the  indwelling  of  the  Spirit, 
which  constitute  our  condition  for  re- 
ceiving what  He  has  to  teach. 

II.  The  other  great  privilege  to  be 
remembered  is  that  the  school  of  Jesus 
is  a  technical  school.  He  provides  op- 
portunities for  us  to  prove  in  practical 
life  the  truths  He  has  to  declare.  This 
is  a  great  essential  in  His  method,  with 
which  we  shall  deal  more  fully  in  a  sub- 
sequent chapter.  It  is  another  evidence 
of  His  abounding  grace,  that  the  prov- 
ing in  technical  details  of  the  lessons 
He  teaches,  is  just  as  much  under  His 
personal  guidance  and  direction  as  the 
truth  in  theory  is  received  directly  from 
Him. 

1? 


Discipleship 

3.  Now,  upon  what  personal  con- 
ditions may  I  become  a  disciple  ?  I 
fain  would  have  this  enduement  of 
pardon,  cleansing,  and  illumination. 
How  may  this  be  ?  No  school  of  man 
was  ever  so  strictly  guarded,  so  select, 
as  this,  yet  none  was  ever  so  easy  of 
access.  No  bar  of  race,  or  color,  or 
caste,  or  age  stands  across  the  en- 
trance. Humanity  constitutes  the  es- 
sential claim.  And  yet,  because  of  the 
importance  of  the  truths  to  be  revealed, 
and  of  the  necessity  for  the  application 
of  every  power  of  the  being  to  the 
understanding  and  realization  of  these 
truths,  Jesus  stands  at  the  entrance, 
forbidding  any  to  enter,  save  upon  cer- 
tain conditions.  Let  us  hear  His  three- 
fold word.  I.  "If  any  man  cometh 
unto  Me,  and  hateth  not  his  own 
father,  and  mother,  and  wife,  and  chil- 
dren, and  brethren,  and  sisters,  yea, 
and  his  own  life  also,  he  cannot  be 
My  disciple  "  (Luke  xiv.  26).  II. 
"  Whosoever  doth  not  bear  his  own 
cross,  and  come  after  Me,  cannot  be 
My  disciple  "  (Luke  xiv.  27).  III. 
"  Whosoever    he    be  of   you  that  re- 

18 


Becoming  a   Disciple 

nounceth  not  all  that  he  hath,  he  CAN 
not  be  My  disciple  "  (Luke  xiv.  33) 
The  new  relationship  must  be  su 
perior,  in  the  urgency  of  its  claims  to 
the  claim  of  any  earthly  relationship 
it  must  be  considered  and  answered  be- 
fore any  claims  of  the  self-life.  The 
Teacher  demands  that  we  shall  take  up 
the  cross  and  so  follow  on,  even  though 
the  progress  be  through  pain.  More, 
we  must  take  the  deep  spiritual  vow  of 
poverty,  renouncing  all,  as  possessions, 
counting  every  word  He  shall  speak, 
and  every  truth  He  shall  reveal, 
through  whatsoever  methods,  as  our 
chief  and  only  wealth.  In  short,  we 
must  not  be  held,  either  by  being  pos- 
sessed by  others,  or  possessing  aught. 
There  must  be  a  clean  severance  from 
all  entanglement,  and  an  utter  uncom- 
promising abandonment  of  ourselves  to 
Him.  Unless  this  be  so,  we  cannot  be 
His  disciples.  If  this  be  our  attitude, 
then,  to  us  He  gives  pardon,  cleansing, 
light ;  and  so,  becoming  by  relationship 
His  disciples,  and  entering  His  school, 
we  are  ready  for,  and  enter  upon  our 
course  of  instruction. 
19 


Discipleship 

If  these  conditions  seem  hard  and 
severe,  let  it  be  remembered  what  de- 
pends upon  them.  Character  and  des- 
tiny depend  upon  this  question  of  dis- 
cipleship. Not  to  impart  information, 
and  to  satisfy  curiosity,  is  Jesus  the 
Teacher.  It  is  because  the  truth  sancti- 
fies and  makes  free  that  He  reveals  it, 
and  because,  apart  from  the  revelation 
He  has  to  make,  there  is  no  possible 
way  of  realizing  God's  great  purposes 
for  us.  Compare  Himself  and  His 
teaching  with  the  most  sacred  and 
beautiful  of  earth's  loves  and  posses- 
sions, and  these  are  unworthy  of  a  mo- 
ment's thought.  They  must  all  come 
from  between  Him  and  ourselves,  so 
that  we  may  know  and  do  His  will. 
Such  attitude  does  not  rob  us  of  the 
enjoyment  of  all  these  things,  so  far  as 
in  themselves  they  are  right.  It  rather 
adds  to  our  joy. 

Self,  renders  it  impossible  to  know 
Christ,  when  other  loves  and  interests 
intervene,  and  breeds  dissatisfaction 
with  all  else  and  makes  that  very  self 
sad  and  weak.  Christ  absolute,  lights 
the  whole  being  with  His  love,  and  joy, 
20 


Becoming  a  Disciple 

and  beauty,  and  shines  on  other  loves  to 
their  sanctification,  and  so,  the  abnega- 
tion of  self  is  self's  highest  develop- 
ment. 

So  let  us  enter  the  school  of  Jesus, 
and,  receiving  His  gifts,  await  His  teach, 
ing. 


21 


II 

PIEST  LESSONS 

Saviour  and  Master 

These  sayings  of  Thine, 
Help  me  to  make  them 

Doings  of  mine ; 
Words  that  like  beams 

Of  humanity  shine, 
By  them  let  me  build  up 

The  holy,  divine. 

— Paxton  Hood. 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount — as  it  is 
popularly  styled,  though  the  title  al- 
ways seems  inadequate  and  poor — was 
delivered  specially  to  the  disciples. 
The  first  and  second  verses  of  the  fifth 
chapter  of  Matthew  very  clearly  declare 
this,  "  And  seeing  the  multitudes,  He 
went  up  into  the  mountain ;  and  when 
Fie  had  sat  down,  His  disciples  came  unto 
Him  :  and  He  opened  His  mouth  and 
taught  THEM,  saying."  The  multitude 
followed  and  gathered  round  this  little 
group  of  Teacher  and  taught,  but  the 
22 


First  Lessons 

teaching  was  for  the  disciples  only — 
that  is,  for  such  as  were  brought  into 
those  necessary  relations,  of  which  our 
first  chapter  spoke,  and  so  could  follow 
and  in  some  measure  receive  the  won- 
drous words.  In  actual  experience  the 
teaching  of  this  sermon  is  very  far  in 
advance  even  of  this  advanced  age. 
Men  have  hardly  begun  to  guess  at  the 
glory  and  beauty  of  this  wonderful 
ideal,  but  in  relation  to  the  Teacher  it 
is  elementary  and  initial.  All  the 
wealth  of  His  knowledge — knowledge 
that  He  is  waiting  to  impart — lies  be- 
yond anything  said  here.  Here  He 
deals  with  the  first  ideals  of  true  life, 
and  reveals  to  men  the  Divine  purpose 
for  them  to-day.  These  are  His  first 
lessons.  Any  exhaustive  dealing  with 
all  the  wonderful  and  delicate  detail  is 
impossible,  and  it  is  not  indeed  the  pur- 
pose of  this  study.  A  general  anatysis 
of  the  whole,  that  we  may  catch  its 
sweep  and  scope,  and  obtain  an  outline 
of  the  system,  is  what  is  possible  and 
necessary.  We  shall  now  proceed  to 
this  consideration,  noticing  seven  points 
of  importance.  This  study  should  be 
23 


Discipleship 

taken  with  your   Bible  as  your  com- 
panion, tracing  the  teaching  therein. 

1.      SUPREMACY       OF       CHARACTER 

(Matt.  v.  1-12).  The  very  first  word 
that  falls  from  His  lips  is  a  revelation 
of  the  will  of  God  for  man.  "  Blessed." 
"  Happy."  That  is  the  Divine  thought 
and  intention  for  us.  Sorrow,  tears, 
pain,  disappointment,  all  these  may  be, 
and  are,  of  inestimable  value  in  the 
Father's  discipline ;  but  they  are  means 
to  an  end,  made  necessary  by  man's  sin. 
The  end,  in  the  purpose  of  God  is  bless- 
edness. Happiness  is  that  after  which 
all  men  in  every  age  seek,  and  the  first 
note  in  the  Saviour's  teaching  reveals 
it,  as  what  God  is  seeking  also.  How, 
then,  is  it  to  be  realized  ?  This  section 
contains  the  Master's  answer.  Men 
hold  two  views  of  what  happiness  con- 
sists in,  viz,  having,  and  doing.  To 
possess  much,  or  to  do  some  great 
thing,  constitutes  the  sum  of  human 
blessedness  according  to  popular  the- 
ory. Our  Teacher  sweeps  these  con- 
ceptions away  by  absolutely  ignoring 
them.  No  "  blessed  "  of  His  lights  up 
for  man  either  the  "having"  or  "do- 
24 


First  Lessons 

ing  "  of  man.  Being  is  everything.  A 
man's  happiness  depends  upon  what  he 
is  in  himself.  These  "  blesseds "  of 
Jesus  touch  human  life  in  its  lowliest 
phases,  and  reveal  the  highest  possibil- 
ities even  for  such.  Henceforth  for  the 
disciples  of  Jesus  themselves,  and  for  a 
basis  of  their  estimate  of  others,  char- 
acter is  to  be  supreme.  There  is  in- 
finite tenderness  in  this  on  its  positive 
side,  and  it  is  stern  and  inexorable  on 
the  negative.  Such  teaching  will  pro- 
duce lives  running  contrary  to  all 
worldly  estimate  and  custom,  and  dis- 
cipleship  will  mean  persecution,  and  so 
the  Teacher  adds  a  "blessed"  for  those 
who  suffer  through  character. 

2.  Influence  the  Intention  (v. 
13-16).  This  grows  out  of  the  former, 
and  is  at  once  the  statement  of  a  fact 
and  the  declaration  of  an  intention. 
The  fact  is  that  character  tells  upon 
others.  If  a  man  live  in  the  atmosphere 
of  the  beatitudes  of  Jesus,  his  life  bein£ 
of  the  character  described,  he  will,  apart 
from  any  effort  along  the  line  of  actual 
work,  exert  certain  influences.  This  is 
not  only  a  fact,  it  is  part  of  the  Divine 


Discipleship 

intention.  Salt  savorless,  light  under 
a  bushel,  are  worse  than  useless ;  this  is, 
however,  the  statement  of  an  impossible 
hypothesis.  Salt  savorless  ceases  to  be 
salt.  Light  under  a  bushel  goes  out. 
This  the  Master  intends  us  to  under- 
stand, and  hence  the  terrific  force  of 
His  figures  of  speech. 

These  symbols  mark  for  us  distinctly 
the  influence  that  the  blessed  life  ex- 
erts. Salt  is  antiseptic,  pungent,  pre- 
venting the  spread  of  corruption,  and 
making  that  portion  where  health  bor- 
ders on  disease  smart.  Remember  ab- 
solute corruption  never  smarts.  When 
men  smart  under  the  influence  of  the 
antiseptic  life  of  righteousness,  it  is  a 
sign  for  which  we  should  be  thankful, 
conscience  is  not  altogether  dead,  they 
are  not  "  past  feeling."  The  disciples 
then  are  to  be  salt,  preventing  corrup- 
tion, and  arousing  the  dormant  sense 
of  health.  Light  is  here  used,  I  think, 
in  its  sense  of  guidance.  Men  are 
groping  after  God  in  this  age  with  no 
light  of  their  own  by  which  to  find  Him. 
Your  life  is  to  be  a  light,  by  the  aid  of 
which  men  come  to  glorify  God.     Let 

26 


First  Lessons 

no  man  whose  life  fails  to  be  antiseptic, 
and  never  helps  another  Godward,  im- 
agine himself  living  within  the  circle  of 
beatitudes. 

3.  The  New  Moral  Code  (v.  17- 
48).  Having  thus  seen  the  supremacy 
of  character  as  the  secret  of  happiness 
and  the  source  of  influence,  we  ask 
what  are  the  laws  which  govern  the  de- 
velopment of  such  character.  The  new 
code  of  ethics  is  startling.  The  Mosaic 
law  of  conduct  was  easy  to  obey  when 
compared  to  this.  The  former  is  done 
away  in  the  sense  in  which  the  less  is 
included  in  the  greater.  Greater  it 
surely  is.  Let  this  section  be  carefully 
read,  remembering  the  following  points : 
— I.  The  righteousness  of  the  disciples 
is  to  exceed  that  of  the  Pharisees,  as 
inner  purity  exceeds  external  white- 
ness. II.  Gifts  on  the  altar  do  not  ex- 
piate wrongdoing.  III.  To  look  on 
sin  with  desire  is  sin;  in  other  words, 
suppression  of  sin  is  still  sin,  because  it 
recognizes  the  presence  of  a  principle 
antagonistic  to  God  and  excuses  it. 
IV.  Retaliation  is  forbidden,  and  love 
is  to  be  the  one  law  of  relative  life.  No 

27 


Discipleship 

one  can  reverently  study  this  ideal  of 
life  without  seeing  the  necessity  for  the 
fulfilling  of  the  conditions  of  entrance 
to  discipleship. 

4.  Self-stricken  (vi.).  This  chap- 
ter may,  and  undoubtedly  does,  contain 
very  much  teaching  along  other  lines, 
but  the  underlying  principle  is  that  of 
self-abnegation.  Note  how  the  injunc- 
tions run  counter  to  every  popular  idea 
of  life : — I.  Alms  are  to  be  given 
privately,  not  blazoned  abroad.  II. 
Prayer  is  preeminently  a  matter  'twixt 
the  soul  and  God ;  certainly  not  to  be  a 
means  of  advertising  self's  piety.  III. 
Men  are  still  to  fast,  but  with  glad  face, 
not  "  appearing  "  so  to  do,  so  that  self 
is  to  have  no  glory  for  its  denial  of  it- 
self. IV.  Wealth  is  not  to  be  held,  save 
on  trust.  V.  Self  is  to  be  smitten  so 
that  anxiety  concerning  necessities  can- 
not exist.  Surely  never  were  self-con- 
sideration and  self-consciousness  so 
smitten  hip  and  thigh  as  here. 

5.  Relative  Charity  (vii.  1-5). 
The  consideration  of  my  brother's  fault 
is  to  drive  me  to  self-examination  rather 
that  to  the  passing  of  judgment  on  him. 

28 


First  Lessons 

I  am  ever  to  count  my  fault  a  beam 
and  his  a  mote. 

6.  The  Open  Treasure  House 
(vii.  7-14).  With  what  light  and  glory 
of  tender  love  does  this  section  come  to 
us.  Just  as  one's  spirit  is  in  danger  of 
being  overwhelmed  with  the  sense  of 
the  impossibility  of  realizing  such  ideals, 
He  reveals  to  us  the  wealth  that  lies  at 
our  disposal  in  the  love  and  power  of 
the  Father,  and  in  simplest  and  best 
understood  words,  He  reveals  our  priv- 
ilege in  that  matter.  "Ask."  "Seek." 
"  Knock."  For  daily  help  remember 
the  acrostic  here.  Take  the  initial  let- 
ters A,  S,  K,  and  reflect  that  the  words 
for  which  they  stand  reveal  the  secret 
combination  that  admits  us  into  the 
treasure  house  of  love,  where  there  is 
stored  for  us  all  that  we  need  for  the 
realization  of  the  ideal. 

7.  Warning  (vii.  15-23).  What 
solemn  words  of  warning  are  these. 
Siren  voices  will  seek  to  lure  us.  No 
teaching  but  His  can  produce  the  true 
character.  The  truth  of  every  message 
is  to  be  tested  by  the  life  of  the  Teacher, 
and  if  failure  is  found  there,  we  are  to 


Discipleship 

know  him  for  "  false  "  no  matter  how 
cleverly  the  sheep's  clothing  conceals 
the  devouring  wolf.  How  careful  we 
need  to  be,  lest  all  should  be  marred  by 
our  being  drawn  aside  by  specious 
teaching  which  is  contrary  to  His  Will. 
These  lessons  are  all  initial,  lying  at 
the  very  foundation  of  all  Christ  has  to 
teach  men.  In  proportion  as  they  are 
realized  He  is  able  to  lead  us  forward 
to  deeper  truths.  An  English  Bishop 
said  that  this  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
could  not  be  applied  to  the  State. 
Whatever  the  Bishop  intended,  there 
is  a  side  on  which  he  was  perfectly  cor- 
rect. These  principles  cannot  be  car- 
ried out  in  any  State,  save  where  the 
Kinghood  of  Jesus  is  recognized,  and 
men  are  His  disciples.  None  save  dis- 
ciples can  understand,  much  less  obey 
His  teaching.  The  crowds  leaving  the 
mountain  were  impressed  with  the  au- 
thority of  the  teaching,  but  they  were 
not  captivated  with  its  beauty,  for  all 
this  was  beyond  their  comprehension. 
Christianity  did  not  come  by  force  of 
arms,  nor  could  it.  Christianity  will 
never  come  by  Act  of  Parliament.  The 

30 


First  Lessons 

wisest  of  earth's  scholars,  and  the  most 
astute  of  her  politicians,  can  lift  no 
finger  to  help  the  Kingdom  of  God  save 
by  coming  in  to  the  school  of  Jesus,  and 
learning  of  Him  by  the  inshining  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  That  lonely,  laboring  soul 
in  back  court,  or  isolated  village,  or  far- 
off  heathen  hut,  who  is  spelling  out 
under  the  unique  Teacher  the  lessons 
of  this  great  deliverance,  and  so  build- 
ing character  on  these  sayings  of  His, 
is  doing  more  to  realize  on  earth  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  and  so  to  bring  the 
golden  age,  than  all  the  company  of 
diplomatists  and  politicians,  who  are 
forgetful  in  all  practical  things  of  the 
Nazarene.  To  the  learning  of  these 
first  great  lessons,  let  us  set  ourselves 
with  all  submission  of  spirit  and  sur- 
render of  life. 


31 


Ill 

THE  METHOD  OP  ADVANCEMENT 

No  matter  how  dull  the  scholar  whom  He 
Takes  into  His  school,  and  gives  him  to  see  ; 
A  wonderful  fashion  of  teaching  He  hath 
And  wise  to  salvation  He  makes  us  through  faith. 
The  wayfaring  men  though  fools  shall  not  stray, 
His  method  so  plain,  so  easy  His  way. 

— Charles  Wesley. 

The  subject  of  this  chapter  is  not  in- 
tended to  suggest  the  idea  that  all  the 
"  First  Lessons "  with  which  the  last 
chapter  dealt  are  to  be  realized  to  the 
full,  and  that  not  till  then  progress  may 
be  made  beyond.  The  thought  is  rather 
that  of  advancement  in  those  first  great 
lessons.  They  contain  a  statement  of 
the  full  possibilities  of  character  in  these 
days  of  probation,  and  therefore  it 
would  be  impossible  to  go  beyond  them 
in  this  respect.  At  the  same  time,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  Jesus  said 
very  much  beyond  this  to  His  disciples, 
giving  them  to  know  and  understand 
32 


The  Method  of  Advancement 

many  of  the  things  of  God  that  had  to 
do  with  their  ultimate  destiny  and  the 
Divine  purposes  for  the  race  ;  and  after 
all  His  teaching  at  the  last  He  had  to 
leave  them,  saying,  "  I  have  yet  many 
things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot 
bear  them  now.  Howbeit,  when  He, 
the  Spirit  of  Truth,  is  come,  He  will 
guide  you  into  all  truth."  The  teach- 
ing of  the  First  Lessons  is  for  the  crea- 
tion of  that  character  to  which  the 
deeper  things  of  God  become  intelli- 
gible, and  advancement  in  the  under- 
standing and  realization  of  these,  fits  us 
for  receiving  and  understanding  what- 
ever else  may  be  beyond.  The  con- 
sideration of  this  chapter  includes  both 
these  things,  though  directed  principally 
to  the  former.  How,  then,  can  we  ad- 
vance ? 

1.  Right  Relationships  with  the 
Teacher  must  be  Maintained.  Fail- 
ure to  understand  this  is  perhaps  one 
of  the  subtlest  dangers  to  which  the 
disciple  is  exposed.  The  idea  is  com- 
mon that  at  some  set  time,  through 
some  special  season  of  blessing,  one  en- 
ters into  right  relationships  with  Him, 
33 


Discipleship 

and  that  therefore,  through  all  the 
coming  days,  these  relationships  abide. 
It  is  absolutely  false.  There  is  nothing 
in  all  the  realms  of  life  more  delicate, 
more  easy  to  interfere  with  than  these 
relationships.  As  the  most  tremendous 
forces  of  which  man  knows  anything 
are  set  in  operation  by  simplest  meth- 
ods, and  may  be  hindered  by  means 
equally  simple,  so  in  relation  to  this 
greatest  of  all  forces — the  cleansing  and 
illuminating  force  of  contact  with  Jesus. 
By  the  simple  method  of  cessation  of 
activity  I  come  into  living  contact  with 
it,  and  by  a  moment's  self-assertion,  I 
may  hinder  its  working.  Hence  the 
need  for  living  daily  and  hourly  and 
every  moment  at  the  very  place  of  be- 
ginnings, ever  as  a  child  depending  upon 
Him,  and  ever  as  one  of  the  weakest  of 
those  who  love  Him,  abiding  in  Him. 

It  is  a  glorious  thing  to  know  that  my 
cleansing  and  illumination  depend  upon 
Him,  and  that  the  whole  of  my  respon- 
sibility in  this  matter  is  marked  by  my 
maintaining  personal  relationship  with 
Him.  This,  however,  is  inexorable. 
Daily  personal  communion  there  must 
34 


The  Method  of  Advancement 

be,  and  the  means  of  such,  study  of  His 
word,  waiting  upon  Him  in  prayer,  the 
cultivation  of  close  fellowship,  by  tell- 
ing Him  everything — joys  as  well  as 
sorrows — and  the  periods  of  silence  in 
which  the  soul  simply  waits  and  listens 
in  the  stillness  for  His  voice,  these  can- 
not be  neglected  without  a  film,  a  veil, 
a  cloud,  a  darkness  coming  between  the 
soul  and  Himself,  and  so  hindering  the 
possibility  of  advancement. 

All  this  specially  needs  emphasizing 
in  an  age,  characterized  by  its  rush  and 
unrest,  its  loss  of  the  old  spirit  of  medi- 
tation and  quiet,  a  characterization  that 
applies  to  Christendom  to-day  as  evi- 
denced by  over-organization,  never 
ceasing  rounds  of  societies,  meetings, 
doings,  and  the  lessening  of  the  seasons 
of  retirement  and  true  worship.  Per- 
sonal relationship  cannot  be  maintained 
in  crowds.  The  Master  and  I  alone, 
must  be  a  perpetual  need,  and  for  its 
realization  opportunity  must  be  made. 

2.  The  Truth  Taught  Must  Be 
come  Incarnate  in  the  Disciples. 
As  we  insisted  at  the  outset,  disciple- 
ship  is  not  a  condition  for  amassing  in« 

35 


Discipleship 

formation.  Every  doctrine  has  its  issue 
in  some  clearly  defined  duty,  every 
theory  taught  reveals  a  practical  appli- 
cation and  responsibility.  To  the  soul 
in  right  relationship  with  the  Teacher, 
He  reveals  some  new  aspect  of  truth, 
and  straightway  there  occurs  some  cir- 
cumstance in  which  that  doctrine  may 
be  tested  by  duty ;  and  as  we  are  most 
real  in  ordinary  circumstances, — our 
true  selves  appearing  then,  rather  than 
in  the  heroic  and  extraordinary  days  of 
life, — it  is  in  the  simple  and  common- 
place experiences  that  these  testing 
places  are  mostly  to  be  found.  All  the 
circumstances  and  surroundings  of  the 
disciples  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Su- 
preme Lord  who  teaches,  and  these  He 
manipulates  and  arranges  for  the  pur- 
pose of  the  advancement  and  develop- 
ment of  His  own.  This  is  a  great  com- 
fort. He  knows  the  capacity  and 
weakness  and  strength  of  everyone  in 
His  school,  and  His  examinations  do 
not  consist  in  a  common  testing  for  a 
common  standard,  and  so  are  not  com- 
petitive. They  are  rather  individual, 
special  care  being  taken  with  each  one, 
36 


The  Method  of  Advancement 

and  Peter  will  learn  the  supreme  lesson 
of  love  with  John,  but  the  opportunity 
for  manifesting  it  as  a  force  in  life  will 
be  separate  and  special  in  each  case. 

Now,  advancement  is  dependent  al- 
ways on  our  obedience  in  these  hours  of 
testing,  in  our  manifesting  in  actual 
practice  the  power  of  the  truth  we  have 
heard  in  theory.  No  lesson  is  consid- 
ered learned  in  the  school  of  Jesus, 
which  is  only  committed  to  memory. 
That  lesson  only  is  learned  which  is 
incarnate  in  the  life,  and  becomes  beau- 
tiful in  its  realization  and  declaration 
in  that  way ;  and  until  this  is  so  there 
can  be  no  progress.  "  If  any  man  will- 
eth  to  do  His  will,  he  shall  know  of  the 
teaching"  (John  vii.  17).  This  is  so, 
because  the  teaching  of  Jesus  is  cumula- 
tive and  progressive.  To  attempt  to 
learn  the  lessons  of  to-morrow  without 
knowledge  of  to-day's  would  be  the 
utmost  folly.  Just  as  no  boy  can  intel- 
ligently do  a  problem  in  Euclid  until 
he  knows  the  definitions  and  accepts 
reasonably  the  axioms,  and  takes  each 
successive  step  to  the  one  in  hand,  so 
surely  no  disciple   can   possibly  make 

37 


Discipleship 

progress  in  the  truth  of  God,  save  as 
the  first  steps  are  taken.  You  cannot 
leave  first  principles  and  go  on  unto 
perfection,  save  as  these  first  things 
have  become  principles,  and  not  merely 
theoiies. 

Here  we  touch  the  secret  of  much  of 
the  failure  in  Christian  living  to-day. 
The  powerlessness  in  service,  the  unat- 
tractiveness  in  life,  what  do  they  mean  ? 
Has  the  system  of  Jesus  failed  in  these 
lives?  Have  the  great  lessons  He  came 
to  teach  humanity  broken  down  in  their 
application  to  human  life?  Take  any 
single  example — it  may  be  that  of  your 
own  experience.  When  you  first  be- 
came a  disciple,  your  days  were  days  of 
delight  and  joy,  the  words  and  will  of 
the  Master  thrilled  and  comforted  you, 
and  you  walked  in  His  ways  with  a  joy 
and  gladness  that  filled  the  days  with 
song.  The  people  you  touched  in  daily 
life  saw  the  beauty  of  Jesus  in  you. 
Gentle,  long-suffering,  strong  and  pure, 
you  incarnated  His  lessons,  and  your 
heart  was  glad,  and  other  lives  were 
influenced  Godward.  All  has  changed. 
Prayer  is  a  duty.     The  scriptures  are 

38 


The  Method  of  Advancement 

dull  and  burdensome.  You  have  no 
quick  sense  of  the  Lord's  will.  Your 
Christianity  has  become  a  restriction 
through  which  you  would  like  to  break, 
an  encumbrance  of  which  you  would 
fain  be  rid.  These  are  confessions  you 
never  make,  but  they  tell  the  true  inner 
story  of  your  life.  Now  what  does  this 
really  mean  ?  Just  this.  Somewhere 
back  in  the  past  you  will  find  a  day 
when  the  Teacher  gave  you  some  new 
vision  of  truth  that  straightway  revealed 
an  opportunity  for  you  to  know  the 
glory  of  that  truth  in  the  pathway  of 
obedience.  Something  to  be  given  up. 
Something  to  be  done.  Some  word  to 
be  said.  You  paused,  argued,  dis- 
obeyed. No  other  lesson  has  been 
given,  nor  can  be.  Every  other  de- 
pended upon  that.  That  was  not  final. 
It  was  preparatory,  and  until  that  is 
learned  by  obedience  there  can  be  no 
advancement,  and  so  for  weeks,  per- 
chance months,  aye,  even  years,  you 
have  been  a  disciple  making  no  prog- 
ress, and  there  is  no  wonder  that  you 
are  weary  of  it  all. 

The  Teacher's  love  is  marked  in  your 

39 


Discipleship 

case  by  His  fidelity  to  Himself  and  His 
own  lessons.  Time  after  time,  in  meet- 
ings, in  conversations,  in  loneliness,  He 
brings  you  back  to  that  old  point,  and 
reiterates  with  a  persistence  and  a  pa- 
tience passing  all  human  understand- 
ing : — "  If  any  man  willeth  to  do  His 
will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching." 

I  have  known  all  progress  hindered 
for  years  because  a  letter  was  not  writ- 
ten, and  I  saw  the  face  of  the  disciple 
the  day  after  that  letter  was  despatched. 
The  old  light  was  restored,  and  the  old 
joy  returned  as  the  great  Teacher  again 
began  to  reveal  His  will. 

3.  Advancement  Can  Only  be 
Within  the  Limit  of  Divine  Pur- 
pose. While  it  is  true  that  God  has 
for  an  ultimate  purpose,  some  place  of 
high  service  far  on,  and  out  of  sight,  a 
glory  and  fruition  beyond  these  days  of 
learning  and  probation,  a  being  and  a 
doing  for  which  all  the  teaching  and 
discipline  of  to-day  are  preparing  us,  it 
is  also  true  that,  as  part  of  His  great 
progressive  movement,  He  has  an  im- 
mediate purpose  in  every  life,  some- 
thing for  us  to  accomplish  for  Him  here 
40 


The  Method  of  Advancement 

and  now.  It  is  to-day  we  are  workers 
together  with  Him.  There  is  no  waste 
of  time  or  material  in  the  Divine  meth- 
ods. Every  step  He  takes  us,  every 
word  He  speaks  to  us,  every  testing  He 
permits  us,  contributes  something  to- 
ward the  development  and  progress  of 
all.  Joseph  sold  into  slavery,  David 
exiled  from  his  kingdom,  Job  crouch- 
ing under  the  whirlwind,  Paul  bearing 
the  buffeting  of  Satan's  messenger,  all 
are  examples.  These  experiences  were 
dark  and  mysterious  for  the  time,  and 
while  they  formed  part  of  the  individual 
training  of  these  men,  they  were  also  in 
each  case  a  necessary  part  of  the  Di- 
vine dealing  with  the  larger  circle.  At 
the  time,  the  principal  consciousness 
was  that  of  limitation,  and  consequent 
longing  for  larger  revelation,  but  at  last 
they  all  came  to  understand  that  for  the 
sake  of  others  they  suffered  and  bore, 
and  that  was  to  them  more  than  com- 
pensation for  all  the  restriction  and 
waiting.  There  are  many  things  we 
know  not  now  because  the  greater  issues 
would  be  hindered  by  our  knowing.  So 
what  is  best,  the  Teacher  holds  in  re- 
41 


Discipleship 

serve,  that  we  may  moment  by  moment 
bear  our  share  in  this  march  of  God  to 
ultimate  triumph  and  light. 

This  section  of  our  study  is  a  most 
solemn  one.  So  many  disciples  in  name 
have  ceased  to  be  taught  of  Jesus,  and 
we  are  all  in  such  perpetual  danger  of 
slipping  out  of  the  real  circle  of  disci- 
pleship, that  we  ought  to  ask  ourselves 
the  questions  suggested  by  these  three 
points  on  the  subject  of  advancement. 
These  questions  should  be  asked  regu- 
larly and  always  in  the  hour  of  loneli- 
ness with  the  Master. 

I.  Am  I  in  right  relationship  with  the 
Teacher  to-day?  Do  I  still  live  at  the 
Cross  and  know  the  power  of  its  cleans- 
ing moment  by  moment,  and  so  am  I 
walking  in  the  light,  without  which  all 
the  words  of  Jesus  are  dark  sayings, 
and  His  testings  crosses,  burdens  out  of 
which  I  can  only  gather  reasons  for 
murmuring  ? 

II.  If  I  am  not  in  this  place  of  main- 
tained fellowship,  where  did  I  depart 
therefrom  ?  What  word  of  His  have  I 
disobeyed?  To  that  point  let  me  re- 
turn, whether  it  be  but  an  hour  ago,  or 

42 


The  Method  of  Advancement 

years,  and  there  let  me  absolutely  sur- 
render, at  whatever  cost,  and  do  what 
He  requires,  however  small,  or  however 
irksome  it  appears  to  be. 

III.  Am  I  content  to  wait  when  His 
voice  does  not  speak — and  I  cannot  find 
the  reason  in  myself — until  He  has  ac- 
complished His  present  purpose  in  me, 
even  though  I  understand  it  not  just 
now  ? 

With  matchless  patience  and  pity, 
and  tender  love  beyond  all  attempts  at 
explanation,  this  Teacher  waits,  and 
stoops,  and  woos  us,  and  ever  for  our 
highest  good  and  deepest  peace.  Let 
us  then,  by  consecrated  watching,  main- 
tain the  attitude  of  advancement,  and 
so,  line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept, 
here  a  little  and  there  a  little,  as  we  are 
able  to  bear,  He  will  lead  us  on,  until 
we  come  to  the  perfect  light  and  life 
and  love  of  God. 


IV 

THE  DISCIPLE   AT  HOME 

Thus  it  is  with  the  homely  life  around, 

There  hidden,  Christ  abides  ; 
Still  by  the  single  eye  forever  found 

That  seeketh  none  besides. 

When  hewn  and  shaped  till  self  no  more  is 
found, 

Self,  ended  at  Thy  Cross ; 
The  precious  freed  from  all  the  vile  around, 

No  gain,  but  blessed  loss, 

Then  Christ  alone  remains — the  former  things 

Forever  passed  away ; 
And  unto  Him  the  heart  in  gladness  sings 

All  through  the  weary  day. 

—H.  Suao. 

So  far  we  have  considered  the  great 
essential  facts  of  discipleship.  There 
is  a  sense  in  which  we  hold  most  tena- 
ciously that  view  of  Christianity  which 
is  spoken  of  to-day  as  "other-worldly." 
Man's  destiny  lies  beyond  this  life  of 
probation,  and  toward  that  great  issue 
the  Master  is  ever  working  as  He  teaches 
44 


The  Disciple  at  Home 

us  the  lessons  of  His  love.  Yet  it  has 
ever  been  the  glory  of  Christianity  that 
it  is  intensely  practical,  touching  the 
present  life  at  every  point  with  healing 
and  beauty,  sweetening  all  the  streams 
by  purifying  the  sources.  In  this  and 
the  following  papers  it  will  be  ours  to 
trace  the  effect  of  discipleship  on  the 
common  relationships  of  life. 


We  begin  then  with  Home,  because 
of  its  paramount  importance.  Perhaps 
there  is  no  side  of  life  more  in  danger 
of  being  neglected  in  this  busy,  many- 
sided  age,  than  that  of  Home,  and  cer- 
tainly there  is  no  side  which  we  can  less 
afford  to  neglect.  No  service  for  God 
is  of  any  value  which  is  contradicted  by 
the  life  at  home,  neither  have  we  any 
right  to  neglect  home  on  the  plea  of 
multiplied  engagements  outside. 

The  home  of  the  disciple  may  be  con- 
ducive to  progress  in  grace,  or  it  may 
be  quite  the  reverse,  and  of  course  the 
duty  will  vary  accordingly. 

Let  us  first  look  at  the  great  ideal  of 
the  Christian  home  presented  in  the  New 
45 


Discipleship 

Testament,  and  then  make  particular  ap- 
plication of  the  same. 

1.  To  the  follower  of  Jesus  Christ, 
there  are  certain  central  and  unalter- 
able facts  which  will  touch  and  influ- 
ence all  the  home  relationships.  Let 
us  look  first  at  these. 

I.  The  New  Authority  stands  in  the 
forefront.  The  Teacher  has  claimed  an 
absolute  and  unvarying  supremacy  over 
the  life.  That  initial  condition  of  dis- 
cipleship now  enters  into  every  ques- 
tion, and  from  it  there  can  be  no  devi- 
ation— no,  not  for  a  single  moment. 
This  authority  is  one  that  will  set  up 
the  ideals  of  life,  and  declare  the  stand- 
ard of  action  in  all  the  larger  and  more 
important  matters  of  the  days,  and  in 
the  most  simple  and  trifling  details  of 
the  passing  moments.  This  authority 
becomes  the  gauge  and  measure  of  all 
other  government.  The  Tightness  or 
otherwise  of  any  rule  of  life  imposed  on 
the  disciple  by  any  other  person  is  to 
be  tested  by  the  Will  of  the  Master. 
So  my  obligation  to  any  person  as  a  dis- 
ciple is  limited  or  enforced  by  my  su- 
preme obligation  to  Jesus.     Responsi- 


The  Disciple  at  Home 

bility  to  Him  is  higher  than  that  of  wife 
to  husband,  or  child  to  parents,  or  serv- 
ant to  master.  These  are  all  relation- 
ships of  His  approving,  but  His  claim  is 
first,  and  if  any  of  these  clash  with  that, 
they  are  to  be  sacrificed,  this  to  abide. 
II.  Then  comes  the  New  Attitude 
created  toward  others.  The  relation- 
ship of  the  disciple  to  Christ,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  that  of  life.  Now,  this  life 
is  the  life  of  Christ,  and  what  it  is  in 
itself  must  now  become  the  governing 
force,  and  so  give  new  character  to  my 
feeling  and  acting  toward  others.  His 
Life  is  Love.  That  Life,  regnant  in  me, 
creates  the  disposition  of  love  toward 
all.  The  old  scheme  of  life  was  that  of 
a  preeminent  sense  of  the  importance 
of  self,  and  all  other  interests  were  made 
subservient  to  that,  and  all  other  per- 
sons loved  or  disliked  as  they  minis- 
tered to  or  interfered  with  that.  Now, 
love  governing,  each  will  "  esteem  other 
better  than  himself,"  and  the  need  of 
the  outsider  will  become  the  touchstone 
of  life.  The  light  o£  Christ's  presence 
will  reveal  the  shortcomings  of  myself, 
and  the  hitherto  unrecognized  excel- 
47 


Discipleship 

lences  of  others.  So  the  attitude  of  the 
disciple  will  become  like  that  of  his 
Lord — the  attitude  of  one  who  waits 
not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  min- 
ister, and  the  bearing  of  the  cup  of  cold 
water  to  the  thirsty  will  be  the  delight 
of  all  the  days,  opportunities  for  which 
will  not  be  waited  for,  but  sought. 

Out  of  these  esssential  considerations 
there  grows  a  new  sense  altogether  of 
what  home  really  is.  It  is  to  be  the 
first,  and  perhaps  the  most  simple  and 
beautiful  manifestation  of  the  authority 
of  Jesus.  Every  member  of  the  home, 
recognizing  that  supreme  Kingship,  will 
find  their  relationship  toward  each  other 
ennobled  and  purified  as  they  live  in  the 
great  realm  of  His  love.  Each  willing 
to  sink  personal  aims  for  the  sake  of 
the  realization  of  the  highest  good  of 
all,  no  one  desiring  to  gratify  any  part 
of  their  own  desire  at  the  expense  of 
another,  self-abnegation,  the  individual 
law  that  realizes  the  general  peace  and 
/estfulness,  makes  home  at  its  highest 
and  best.  So  the  manifestation  of  the 
beauty  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  in  real- 
ization of  His  beatitudes  in  the  home 
43 


The  Disciple  at  Home 

being  the  supreme  desire  of  each  and 
all,  personal  blessedness  is  also  realized, 
and  every  sacred  tie  of  home  becomes 
in  itself  more  delightful  and  satisfying 
for  Christ's  mission  amongst  His  dis- 
ciples is  ever  the  fulfilling,  and  never 
the  destruction  of  all  high  and  noble 
ideals.  The  real  music  and  beauty  of 
home  are  only  known  to  those  who  are 
simple  and  faithful  disciples  of  Jesus. 

III.  What  a  glorious  picture  is  pre- 
sented of  a  true  home  in  the  writings 
of  the  Apostle  Paul.  Himself  a  man, 
who  for  the  highest  reasons  never  per- 
haps knew  the  joy  of  such  life,  he  never- 
theless understood  its  beauty,  and  if  you 
will  take  the  different  words  he  writes 
in  his  Epistles  as  to  the  true  position 
and  duty  of  husband,  wife,  parent,  child, 
master,  servant,  you  will  see  the  vision 
of  the  perfect  home  life.  At  the  prin- 
cipal points  let  us  look. 

(a).  Take  first  the  husband  and  wife 
in  their  relation  to  each  other,  and  as 
parents  toward  their  children.  What 
more  wonderful  ideal  than  this  can  there 
be  ?  "  Husbands,  love  your  wives,  even 
as  Christ  also  loved  the  Church,  and 
49 


Discipleship 

gave  Himself  for  it."  That  is  true  love. 
Absolute  self-abnegation,  the  one  over- 
mastering passion  being  that  of  the  high- 
est good  and  greatest  happiness  of  the 
wife.  How  impossible  in  such  love  the 
thousand  little  neglects  which  mar  the 
life  of  women,  and  render  them  heavy 
with  disappointed  hope.  How  far  more 
impossible  the  selfish  brutality  that  too 
often  has  made  home  infinitely  more 
like  hell  than  heaven.  Again,  "  Wives, 
submit  yourselves  unto  your  own  hus- 
bands, as  unto  the  Lord."  That  can 
only  be  obeyed  when  the  husband  is 
loving  with  the  Lord's  love.  When 
that  is  so,  see  how  beautifully  there  is 
recognized  here  the  true  view  of  woman's 
love,  as  that  which  finds  its  highest  man- 
ifestation in  submission.  Then  the  rev- 
elation of  Paul's  writings  concerning 
the  relation  of  parents  to  children  is  a 
remarkable  one  and  sorely  needs  re- 
stating in  these  days.  It  is  that  of  the 
father's  responsibility.  It  is  he  who  is 
to  train  them;  and  see  how  tenderly 
this  is  to  be,  not  by  the  methods  that 
will  provoke  anger,  but  in  "  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord." 

50 


The  Disciple  at  Home 

(6).  Then  the  position  of  the  child, 
simply  marked  by  the  one  thought  of 
obedience.  What  a  glorious  and  tender 
thought  it  is.  It  implies  an  authority 
provided  which  frees  the  tender  life 
from  the  responsibility  of  thinking  and 
planning,  and  provides  that  it  shall  make 
advancement  toward  perfection,  within 
the  realm  of  a  very  definite  and  direct 
government.  How  grand  a  provision 
that  is,  perhaps  we  never  fully  realize 
until  we  have  passed  beyond  it,  and 
amid  the  strife  of  life,  with  its  oft-re- 
curring crises,  when  we  are  sore  be- 
wildered as  to  which  path  we  ought 
to  take,  we  long  for  the  days  of  child- 
hood again,  when  we  could  ask  Father, 
Mother,  and  when  in  obeying  them  we 
knew  we  were  doing  that  which  pleased 
the  Lord.  That  view  of  obedience  as 
the  Lord's  tender  provision  for  their 
safety  and  development,  should  ever  be 
presented  to  our  dear  disciple-children. 
What  a  responsibility  it  entails  upon  us 
parents  that  we  seek  our  laws  for  them 
from  the  King. 

(<?).  Then  there  is  the  presence  in  the 
home  of  those  who  help  and  serve.    The 

51 


Discipleship 

position  of  these  is  made  very  sacred  in 
the  school  of  Jesus.  Most  distinctly  is 
it  laid  down  that  they  can  do  "all 
things  "  as  unto  the  Lord,  and  that  ex- 
pression includes  and  lights  up  the  most 
trivial  duties  that  they  are  called  upon 
to  render.  It  is  of  such  that  the  won- 
derful possibility  is  declared,  that  they 
may  "adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our 
Saviour."  How  beautiful  the  life  of 
some  is,  we  know  full  well.  Toward 
them  the  Christian  master  is  to  exercise 
the  patience  of  his  Master  toward  him- 
self, making  demands  on  eager,  loving 
service,  not  by  threatening,  but  by  lov- 
ing, Christly  recognition  of  the  holiness 
of  their  service,  and  its  value  to  the 
Lord  Himself. 

2.  This  is  a  glorious  picture.  No 
such  ideal  of  home  has  ever  been  pre- 
sented to  the  world.  It  has  been  real- 
ized in  a  large  measure  over  and  over 
again.  No  truer  fore-glimpse  of  the 
heavenlies  can  be  found  than  that  of  the 
Christian  home,  with  all  its  deep  love, 
quiet  peace,  and  constant  brightness  and 
merriment.  Discipleship  has  often  to 
be  maintained  in  very  different  home 
52 


The  Disciple  at  Home 

surroundings.  The  husband,  wife,  par- 
ent, child,  servant,  may  either  of  them 
be  the  only  disciple,  and  their  relation- 
ship to  Christ  looked  upon  with  pity, 
contempt,  or  even  open  opposition. 
The  position  of  such  is  a  very  difficult 
one ;  but  for  this,  as  for  all  other  cir- 
cumstances, the  grace  and  power  of 
Christ  are  sufficient.  When  this  is  so, 
there  is  a  twofold  responsibility  resting 
upon  the  Christian, — 

I.  Remembering  the  great  ideals, 
there  must  be  a  realization  of  the  Mas- 
ter's will  for  the  individual  case.  The 
Christ-life  of  love  must  govern  and 
manifest  itself  toward  others,  even 
though  there  be  no  return  on  the  part 
of  the  dearest  earthly  friends. 

II.  Then,  if  that  manifestation  bring 
contempt  and  persecution,  there  is  to  be 
an  absence  of  the  revengeful  spirit,  and 
the  presence  of  loving  patience,  that  so 
the  unbelieving  may  be  won  by  the  be- 
havior of  the  believing. 


The  creation  of  true  Christian  homes 
is  the  splendid  possibility  of  young  dis- 
53 


Discipleship 

cipleship.  The  question  of  marriage 
lies  at  the  base  of  this.  Unequal  yok- 
ing together  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
with  unbelievers  is  one  of  the  most  dis- 
astrous matters  for  the  Church  and  the 
world.  And  there  should  be  no  al- 
liance of  life  even  between  believers 
unless  the  Lord's  will  be  so  clearly  re- 
vealed that  there  can  be  no  mistaking  it. 


The  ideal  Christian  home,  will  ever 
have  a  door  open  to  welcome  the  home- 
less ones  of  our  great  centres  of  popu- 
lation, that  its  atmosphere  of  love  may 
help  to  guard  and  form  the  life  of  such. 


THE  DISCIPLE  AT  BUSINESS 

Yea,  -we  know  that  Thou  rejoicest 

O'er  each  work  of  Thine; 
Thou  didst  ears  and  hands  and  voices 

For  Thy  praise  design  ; 
Craftsman's  art  and  Music's  measure 
For  Thy  pleasure 
All  combine. 

— F.  Pott. 

There  is  no  more  common  mistake, 
or  more  dangerous,  than  that  work  is  in 
some  way  connected  with  the  curse. 
Man  was  created  for  work.  It  is  one  of 
the  very  first  laws  of  his  being.  Un- 
employed man  is  a  contravention  of  the 
Divine  purpose.  Hence,  before  man 
fell,  we  see  him  in  all  the  strength  of 
his  perfect  being,  at  work.  "  And  the 
Lord  God  took  the  man,  and  put  him 
into  the  garden  of  Eden  to  dress  it  and 
to  keep  it"  (Gen.  ii.  15).  Sin  brought 
weariness  and  disappointment,  which 
made  work  a  burden,  but  work  itself  is 

55 


Discipleship 

a  Divine  arrangement  for  the  gladden- 
ing of  life. 

This  law  abides  under  the  Christian 
dispensation.  No  word  Christ  spoke 
can  be  construed  into  a  word  revoking 
it.  It  is  rather  taken  up  and  enforced 
by  Christ  Himself  and  the  apostles.  In 
the  "  Sermon  on  the  Mount "  the  Lord 
recognizes  the  power  to  work  as  a 
special  gift  which  raises  us  above  the 
level  of  birds  and  flowers.  Of  the  fowls 
He  said  "Are  not  ye  of  much  more 
value  than  they?"  (Matt.  vi.  26);  and 
of  the  flowers  "  If  God  doth  so  clothe 
the  grass  ....  shall  He  not  much  more 
clothe  you?"  (vi.  30).  In  each  case, 
the  teaching  is  not  that  we  should 
neither  "  sow  "  nor  "  reap,"  and  neither 
"toil"  nor  "spin,"  but  that,  having 
these  powers  and  using  them,  how  much 
more  likely  it  is  that  our  need  should 
be  supplied,  rather  than  that  of  fowls 
or  flowers.  The  philosophy  of  the  sit- 
uation is  that  Christ  recognizes  all  gifts 
and  callings  as  from  God,  and  looks 
upon  them  as  the  channels  through 
which  God  will  supply  our  need.  Paul 
is  most  clear  in  his  exposition  of  the 

56 


The  Disciple  at  Business 

will  of  God  in  these  matters.  In  writ- 
ing to  the  Thessalonians  (II.  ii.  10)  he 
makes  working  the  condition  of  eating, 
and  in  writing  to  the  Ephesians  (iv. 
28)  he  places  working  in  antithesis  to 
stealing,  and  reveals  the  larger  social 
responsibility  when  he  says,  that  a  man 
is  to  work  not  merely  for  his  own  sup- 
port, but  "  that  he  may  have  whereof  to 
give  to  him  that  hath  need  ; "  and  in  his 
first  letter  to  Timothy  (v.  8)  he  de- 
clares that  "  If  any  provideth  not  for 
his  own,  and  specially  his  own  house- 
hold, he  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is 
worse  than  an  unbeliever." 

Recognizing  the  great  truth  of  the 
solidarity  of  humanity,  that  each  per- 
son is  part  of  the  whole,  that  the  whole 
is  incomplete  in  the  incompleteness  of 
any,  it  is  evident  that  all  the  great  and 
increasing  needs  of  humanity  for  this 
life  are  provided  for  by  God  in  the  gifts 
He  has  bestowed,  to  every  man  sever- 
ally as  He  will,  His  will  ever  being 
the  well-being  and  happiness  of  the 
creature.  Every  ability  to  do  some- 
thing which  will  be  for  the  support  of 
the  worker,  and  at  the  same  time  con- 

57 


Discipleship 

tribute  to  the  legitimate  needs  of  others, 
is  a  Divine  gift,  a  Divine  calling.  Ca- 
pacity for  brain  work,  dexterity  of 
ringers,  are  each  and  in  every  variety  of 
application,  Divinely  bestowed.  To 
dig — whether  with  spade,  or  plough,  or 
shaft  and  machinery  for  metals — is  a 
calling  of  God.  To  construct  with 
wood,  or  stone,  or  iron,  for  permanence 
or  locomotion,  is  a  Divine  gift.  To  see 
a  vision  and  paint  it,  to  hear  music  and 
translate  it,  to  catch  glimpses  of  truth 
and  embody  them  in  form  poetic,  these 
and  all  the  thousands  of  various  gifts 
bestowed  upon  men  are  of  God.  On 
every  individual  some  gift  is  bestowed, 
save  perchance  upon  those  who,  in  these 
days  of  humanity's  sin  and  sorrow,  are 
from  their  birth  limited  in  their  powers. 
Not  only  the  preacher,  but  every  man, 
has  a  calling  of  God,  and  the  duty  of 
each  man  to  God,  to  the  community,  to 
himself,  is  to  find  that  calling,  and 
therein  to  abide.  (See  I.  Cor.  vii.  20- 
24). 

This  is  the  great  Divine  ideal  from 
which  humanity  has  wandered,  to  its 
sorrow,  shame,  and  undoing;    and  as 

58 


The  Disciple  at  Business 

discipleship  means  a  return  to  Divine 
ideals  through  the  teaching  and  power 
of  Jesus,  we  must  now  apply  these 
principles  to  the  disciple  as  he  or  she 
enters  business. 

1.  The  first  serious  question,  then, 
for  the  disciple  is,  "  What  is  the  gift  be- 
stowed upon  me,  the  calling  of  God  for 
me?"  The  answer  to  that  is  to  be 
found  within,  rather  than  without.  A 
gift  ever  means  fitness.  To  every  man 
God  intends  to  make  watches,  He  has 
given  the  necessary  fineness  of  touch 
and  nerve  patience.  To  every  woman 
He  designs  to  teach,  He  has  given  the 
attractive  force  and  lucid  gift  that  fits 
her  to  hold  and  teach  the  children. 
Discipleship  mean  facility  for  discover- 
ing the  gift  of  God.  The  trouble  is 
that  so  many  have  thought  that  when 
we  begin  to  touch  these  things  our 
Teacher  is  uninterested,  and  so  we  have 
made  the  greatest  blunders  of  our  lives 
in  choosing  our  occupation,  rather  than 
setting  ourselves  to  discover  the  Divine 
calling.  To  the  young  disciple  who 
reads  this  and  who  has  not  yet  decided 
on  life's  work,  let  me  say  in  all  sim- 

59 


Discipleship 

plicity  and  confidence,  seek  to  find  your 
right  place  in  life  by  telling  your  Lord 
your  sense  of  need,  and  asking  for  His 
direction.  In  this  matter  an  enormous 
responsibility  rests  upon  parents,  that 
they  seek  to  discover  the  Lord's  purpose 
for  their  boys  and  girls,  and  then  train 
them  for  that  position.  This  can  only 
be  done  by  patient  watching  for  the 
manifestation  of  the  God-bestowed 
powers  of  each  life  separately  and  this 
cannot  be,  when  in  tender  years  we  send 
our  children  out  of  our  homes  to  live,  and 
so  transfer  our  responsibility  to  others 
than  those  by  God  appointed. 

2.  The  gift  being  discovered,  now 
follows  the  necessity  for  persistent  ap- 
plication for  the  most  perfect  develop- 
ment thereof.  The  disciple  of  Jesus, 
recognizing  his  calling  in  life  as  of  God, 
cannot  possibly  treat  it  carelessly  or 
with  any  measure  of  indifference. 
Every  power  of  the  will  must  be 
brought  to  bear  on  the  application  of 
the  mind  to  the  mastery  of  the  subject 
in  hand.  A  Christian  carpenter  will 
master  the  use  of  every  tool,  and  lay 
himself  out  to  embody  in  his  work  the 


The  Disciple  at  Business 

very  spirit  of  the  Christ.  A  Christian 
doctor  will  leave  no  department  of  the 
great  science  neglected,  or  will  devote 
himself  with  perfect  consecration  to 
that  department  for  which  God  has 
given  him  the  gift  of  a  specialist.  The 
great  advantage  of  discipleship  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  if  I  recognize  my 
calling  as  a  Divine  one,  then  I  am  sure 
that  he  who  bestowed  the  gift  under- 
stands it,  and  all  my  personal  applica- 
tion to  its  mastery  will  be  in  the  spirit 
of  dependent  prayer.  Christian  me- 
chanics, tradesmen,  professional  men, 
should  be  the  finest  in  the  world,  and 
would  be,  if  they  lived  in  the  power  of 
their  relationship  to  Christ. 

3.  Fully  equipped  for  qualified  serv- 
ice, the  disciple  now  faces  the  sterner 
work  of  the  years,  and  under  the  pres- 
ent conditions  of  life  this  is  mostly 
done  as  the  servant  of  others.  Again, 
referring  to  Paul's  words  (in  I.  Cor.  vii. 
22-24),  we  see  how  that  the  disciple  is 
to  consider  his  higher  relationship  to 
God.  He  "is  the  Lord's  free  man," 
and  is  "to  abide  with  God  "  in  his  call- 
ing. Now,  how  does  that  affect  his 
61 


Discipleship 

work?  It  lights  it  up  with  the  glory 
of  the  Divine  goodwill  to  men,  so  that 
each  piece  of  work  becomes  a  part  of 
the  Divine  contribution  to  the  need  of 
the  community,  and  if  I  measure  cloth, 
or  sell  groceries,  or  paint  a  picture,  or 
play  an  instrument,  or  set  a  limb,  or 
anything  that  is  an  exercise  of  the  Di- 
vine gift,  I  do  it,  not  as  a  means  of  live- 
lihood first,  but  as  part  of  God's  work, 
and  so  I  become,  down  to  the  smallest 
detail  of  everyday  life,  "  a  worker  to- 
gether with  Him."  Hold  but  that  view 
of  life's  work,  and  there  can  be  no  more 
"scamping"  of  work — no,  not  even  to 
be  in  time  for  a  prayer  meeting. 

How  does  abiding  with  God  in  my 
calling  affect  my  relation  to  my  em- 
ployer? It  makes  me  treat  him  as 
though  he  were  in  my  place  and  I  in  his. 
Hear  the  Teacher's  own  words : — "  All 
things  therefore,  whatsoever  ye  would 
that  men  should  do  unto  you,  even  so 
do  ye  also  unto  them  "  (Matt.  vii.  12). 
To  that  nothing  can  be  added. 

4.  Finally,  the  disciple  in  business  on 
his  own  account  lives  and  acts  within 
certain  very  clearly  defined  principles. 


The  Disciple  at  Business 

He  ever  remembers  that  he  is  a  steward 
of  his  Master.  He  possesses  nothing, 
but  holds  on  trust  all  he  has,  and  is  re- 
sponsible to  Christ  for  the  way  he  gets, 
the  way  he  uses,  and  the  measure  of  his 
getting  or  holding.  No  disciple  of 
Jesus  can  amass  a  fortune  simply  for 
the  sake  of  possession.  He  may  be 
prosperous  in  his  undertakings,  but  his 
prosperity  must  ever  mean  increased 
opportunity  for  Divine  service.  No 
disciple  can  oppress  the  hireling  in  his 
wages.  That  wage  should  be,  not 
merely  the  measure  of  keeping  his 
servant's  body  and  soul  together,  it 
should  include  provision  for  the  culture 
of  all  that  his  being  demands.  A  "  liv- 
ing wage  "  in  the  common  acceptation 
of  that  term,  is  not  the  measure  for  a 
Christian  paymaster. 

A  Christian  cannot  consent  to  enrich 
himself  by  taking  advantage  of  the 
downfall  or  misfortune  of  another  man. 
That  man  who  strikes  a  bargain  to  his 
own  profit  which  takes  advantage  of 
some  pressing  need  on  the  part  of  an- 
other, is  none  of  Christ's.  No  Christian 
can  take  part  in  the  monopolies  of  the 


Disciplcship 

day,  which  have  as  the  very  basis  of 
their  operations  the  enrichment  of  the 
few  to  the  detriment  of  the  many. 
There  is  nothing  perhaps  more  devilish 
in  commercial  life  to-day  than  the  great 
monopolies.  America  is  cursed  by  them, 
and  England  is  threatened.  No  disciple 
of  Christ  can  touch  them  and  abide  in 
the  teaching  of  Jesus.  The  twofold  law 
of  life,  enunciated  by  our  Teacher,  will 
purify  commerce  throughout,  and  noth- 
ing short  of  that  will  ever  do  it.  "  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  all  thy  mind.  .  .  .  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"  (Matt, 
xxii.  37-40). 


These  are  said  to  be  impossible  ideals 
for  business  life  to-day.  We  reply  that 
the  very  essence  and  genius  of  disciple- 
ship  is  the  realization  of  the  impossible. 
It  is  just  because  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  has  stood  in  the  presence  of  His 
teaching  and  said  "  Impossible "  that 
She  has  become  so  weak  and  forceless 
in  all  the  affairs  of  this  busy  age.  Let 
64 


The  Disciple  at  Business 

us  have  a  few  men  and  women  again 
who,  like  the  early  disciples  in  Pente- 
costal days,  believe  in  Jesus  and  in  the 
eternal  wisdom  of  all  His  teaching,  and 
who  are  prepared  to  suffer  the  loss  of 
all  things  rather  than  disobey,  and  the 
potency  and  possibility  of  His  ideals 
will  begin  to  dawn  on  the  world  again 
as  it  did  in  those  days,  breaking  up 
dynasties,  revolutionizing  empires,  and 
turning  the  world  upside  down. 

Nowhere  is  such  work  more  needed 
than  in  the  realm  of  commerce,  and  no- 
where can  we  make  better  investment 
for  the  Master's  Kingdom  to-day  than 
by  purifying  rigidly  that  corner  of  the 
great  realm  which  we  touch. 

Let  every  disciple  find  his  gift  from 
God,  cultivate  it  for  God,  exercise  it 
abiding  in  God,  and  he  will  not  only 
secure  his  own  highest  success,  but  will 
contribute  his  quota  to  the  preparatory 
work  of  this  dispensation  for  the  coming 
of  the  King  and  the  establishment  of 
His  Kingdom  on  earth. 


65 


VI 

THE  DISCIPLE  AT  PLAT 

In  that  new  childhood  of  the  Earth 

Life  of  itself  shall  dance  and  play, 
Fresh  blood  in  Time's  shrunk  veins  make  mirth, 

And  labor  meet  delight  halfway. 

— J.  Bussell  Lowell. 

So  far  there  has  seemed  to  be  no  con- 
tradiction of  terms  in  the  subjects  which 
have  come  under  our  consideration. 
Among  all  sections  of  Christians  there 
would  be  a  concensus  of  opinion  as  to 
the  Tightness  of  considering  "  The  Dis- 
ciple at  Home"  and  "The  Disciple  at 
Business."  I  do  not  anticipate  any  con- 
flict of  opinion  concerning  any  subse- 
quent division  of  this  subject.  I  can, 
however,  imagine  that  there  may  be  a 
doubt  in  the  mind  of  some  with  regard 
to  the  title  at  the  head  of  this  chapter : 
and  yet  it  is  of  such  enormous  impor- 
tance, that  to  omit  it  were  not  only  to 
render  the  study  incomplete,  but  to  do 
66 


The  Disciple  at  Play 

rositive  injustice  to  the  follower  of 
Christ  who,  upon  this  of  all  subjects,  is 
feeling  his  or  her  need  of  direct  and 
wholesome  teaching.  The  fact  that 
large  numbers  of  young  people  lose 
their  spirituality  here  is  due,  not  to  the 
inconsistency  of  play,  but  rather  to  lack 
of  clear  teaching,  and  therefore  of  fail- 
ure to  understand  the  true  position  of 
the  child  of  God  in  reference  thereto. 
Let  us  apply  ourselves  to  a  twofold 
consideration — firstly  as  to  the  fact  of 
play  in  the  life  of  discipleship,  and  then 
to  the  limits  which  are  marked  off  for 
those  who  are  learning  of  Christ  in  this 
as  in  all  matters. 

1.  The  very  first  truth  to  be  under- 
stood and  kept  in  mind  is  that  of  the 
purpose  of  Christ  in  the  present  pro- 
bationary stage  of  human  life.  I  have 
already  emphasized  the  fact  that  the 
Master  is  preparing  us  for  an  end,  which 
is  beyond  the  present  life  altogether. 
By  that  I  abide.  It  must,  however,  be 
remembered  that,  while  in  Christ  I  gain 
more  blessings  than  my  fathers  lost,  the 
very  first  business  of  the  great  scheme 
of  redemption  and  instruction  is  the 
67 


Discipleship 

restoration  of  man  to  the  Divine  ideal 
of  human  life  here.  The  man  who  most 
truly  manifests  the  beauties  of  human 
life  in  all  its  bearings,  most  truly  proves 
his  progress  toward  and  preparation 
for  the  glory  that  has  not  yet  been  re- 
vealed. A  human  being  developed  on 
one  side  of  his  nature,  to  the  damage  or 
contraction  of  another,  is  by  so  much 
thwarting  a  Divine  purpose,  damaging 
a  Divine  ideal.  This  we  readily  admit 
in  some  cases.  Such,  for  instance,  as 
the  development  of  flesh  to  the  injury 
of  spirit.  It  is  just  as  true  of  a  man 
who  loses  his  power  for  stern  work  in 
his  abandonment  to  play.  It  is  equally 
true  of  a  man  who  cannot  play  because 
his  power  to  do  so  has  become  deadened 
by  ceaseless  toil.  The  power  to  laugh, 
to  cease  work,  and  frolic  in  forgetful- 
ness  of  all  the  conflict,  to  make  merry, 
is  a  Divine  bestowment  upon  man,  and 
its  absence  in  any  case  is  as  sure  a  mark 
of  the  blighting  effects  of  sin,  as  is  the 
frothy  life  of  the  devotee  of  miscalled 
pleasure  who  never  contributes  any- 
thing to  the  work  of  his  generation. 
This  power  is  based  upon  the  wisdom 
68 


The  Disciple  at  Play 

of  God,  and  His  knowledge  of  the  needs 
of  the  creatures  of  His  hand.  To  this 
all  scientific  statement  bears  witness. 
Every  inedical  man  knows  the  enormous 
value  of  prescribing  change,  exercise, 
cessation  of  toil,  and  pure  amusement, 
in  order  that  there  may  be  better  work, 
harder  blows,  more  clear  thinking,  and 
that  the  sum  total  of  the  life  may  be  of 
a  higher  order :  and  what  is  true  medi- 
cal science  but  a  discovery  of  the  laws 
of  God  for  the  well-being  of  the  crea- 
tures of  His  love  ?  Now  Jesus  did  not 
come  to  contradict  or  set  aside  any 
great  law  of  human  life,  and  most  cer- 
tainly not  that  which  thus  provides  for 
the  highest  development  of  man.  He 
has  come  to  interfere  here  as  everywhere 
else,  and  to  restore  play  to  its  proper 
place  in  every  life  ;  and  though  He  gave 
His  followers  no  set  of  rules,  He  has 
given  them  in  His  teaching  great  prin- 
ciples, which  will  adjust  these  matters 
as  perfectly  as  all  others. 

Before  turning  to  consider  them,  let 
me  state  with  perfect  clearness  that 
especially  in  this  age  of  ceaseless  ac- 
tivity,  which  is  over  and  over   again 

69 


Discipleship 

more  worldly  than  godly,  and  in  the> 
whirl  and  rush  of  which  every  man, 
whether  he  be  a  Christian  or  no,  is  nee- 
essarily  caught  up  and  carried  forward, 
it  is  an  absolute  necessity,  and  therefore 
a  solemn  duty,  that  the  follower  of 
Christ  should  learn  how  to  play  within 
proper  limits,  that  so  he  may  be  the 
stronger  man  for  the  stress  of  the  age, 
and  to  confront  its  rush,  and  restless- 
ness, and  weakness,  with  his  testimony 
to  the  peace,  and  quietness,  and  tre- 
mendous force  of  the  life  possessed  by, 
and  matured  in  God.  Perhaps  I  may 
put  this  most  forcefully  by  a  personal 
illustration.  I  find  no  final  preparation 
for  the  delivery  of  the  messages  of  God 
on  Sunday — messages  for  which  I  must 
first  solemnly  have  sought,  not  only  by 
prayer,  but  also  by  stern  application  to 
study  aud  thought — equal  to  a  Saturday 
afternoon  in  company  with  some  fellow- 
disciple,  with  my  bag  of  clubs,  "  driving  " 
a  golf  ball  over,  and  sometimes  into, 
"  bunkers,"  "  teeing  up  "  and  "  holeing 
out ; "  and  I  can  stride  over  the  grass 
and  through  the  heather  and  sand,  sing- 
ing with  perfect  sincerity : 
70 


The  Disciple  at  Play 

"  I  feel  like  singing  all  the  time, 
My  tears  are  wiped  away ; 
For  Jesus  is  a  friend  of  mine, 
I'll  serve  Him  every  day." 

2.  Now  as  to  the  limits  of  play  for 
the  disciple.  They  are  found  by  nat- 
ural sequence,  in  that  condition  of  life 
in  which  I  never  for  a  moment  forget 
that  I  am  Christ's,  and  my  loyalty  to 
Him  is  unquestioning  and  constant. 
How  will  that  one  great  principle  affect 
my  play?  In  two  ways: — firstly,  in 
the  realm  of  my  personal  realization  of 
His  purpose  for  me,  and  secondly,  in 
my  relationship  with  Him  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  His  purpose  in  all 
those  with  whom  I  come  in  contact. 

I.  As  we  have  seen,  the  purpose  of 
Jesus  is  the  perfecting  of  my  being. 
It  follows,  therefore,  most  clearly  that 
my  play  must  ever  be  recreative  in  char- 
acter, and  never  destructive.  Farther, 
the  complexity  of  human  life  must  be 
considered.  Man  is  neither  body,  soul, 
nor  spirit,  separately  He  is  body,  soul, 
and  spirit,  and  between  these  different 
sides  of  his  complex  nature  there  is  the 
closest  and  most  subtle  inter-relatio^ 
71 


Discipleship 

so  that  he  cannot  possibly  do  injury  to 
either  side  without  injuring  himself  as 
a  whole.  To  destroy  my  physical  power 
is  to  weaken  my  mental,  and  that  is  for 
to-day,  at  any  rate,  to  limit  the  oppor- 
tunity for  the  culture  of  the  spiritual. 
Any  form  of  play,  then,  that  injures 
my  physical  powers  or  dwarfs  my 
mental  vigor,  or  takes  away  my  spirit- 
ual sense,  is  impossible  for  me  as  a  dis- 
ciple of  Christ.  That  play,  and  only 
that,  which  recreates,  and  so  fits  for 
larger  service,  is  legitimate. 

II.  Then  further,  I  cannot  in  the 
power  of  the  Christ-life  live  only  for 
myself.  I  am  not  to  seek  recreation  by 
any  means  which  involves  injury  to  my 
fellow-being,  even  though  the  doing 
thereof  may  seem  to  be  of  direct  bene- 
fit to  me.  Let  me  not  be  misunder- 
stood. I  do  not  say  that  because  one 
man  abuses  lawn -tennis  by  waste  of 
time  thereat,  I  am  not  to  play.  I  do 
say  that  if  I  see  lawn-tennis  has  such  a 
fascination  for  a  friend  of  mine  as  to 
make  him  liable  to  neglect  his  sterner 
work,  I  am  to  be  "narrow"  enough  ^o 
refuse  to  play  with  him  unless   h&   is 

72 


The  Disciple  at  Play 

playing  upon  the  very  conditions  which 
make  for  his  development  only,  as  I 
play  upon  for  mine.  The  relative  law 
is  that  I  only  have  fellowship,  even  in 
play,  with  a  fellow-being  upon  the 
principles  which  are  highest  and  best 
for  him,  and  never  upon  what  he  sets 
up  for  himself,  if  they  are  lower  than 
the  highest.  Neither  can  I  consent  to 
be  amused  in  any  form  by  that  which 
is  debasing  the  life  of  those  who  amuse 
me.  I  have  purposely  avoided  naming 
any  forms  of  play  save  those  that  would 
be  looked  upon  as  legitimate  in  proper 
time  and  place  by  almost  every  Chris- 
tian. This  avoidance  has  been  due  to 
the  fact  that  I  very  strongly  desire  in 
this,  as  in  every  detail  of  life,  to  throw 
the  disciple  upon  the  Master  for  direct 
guidance,  and  this  because  I  am  per- 
suaded, there  is  no  other  safe  course, 
because  there  is  no  other  unfailing  and 
infallible  authority.  Jesus  makes  a 
specialty  of  every  individuality,  and 
He  alone  can  do  this.  That  which  may 
be  perfectly  lawful  and  right  for  me 
may  be  a  sin  to  my  brother,  and  that 
which  I  dare  not  do  at  the  risk  of  losing 

73 


Discipleship 

my  spiritual  force,  he  may  find  con- 
ducive to  his  highest  advancement.  Let 
each  one  seek  the  Lord's  direct  pleasure, 
and  be  true  to  that,  and  there  can  be  no 
mistake ;  but  by  following  human  ex- 
amples, or  making  others  the  standard 
of  what  one  may  or  may  not  do,  one 
will  be  constantly  liable  to  get  into 
places  of  positive  danger.  These  prin- 
ciples in  application  will  be  found  most 
drastic,  and  yet  will  bring  us  into  the 
air  of  perfect  liberty.  There  are  some 
forms  of  wordly  amusement  debasing 
and  injurious  in  themselves,  and  some 
which  are  procured  at  the  cost  of  the 
degradation  and  ruin  of  others.  Against 
all  these  the  disciple  by  word  and  life 
should  be  a  constant  protest.  One  of 
the  surest  ways  to  combat  them,  is  to 
manifest  in  our  lives  the  joyousness  of 
discipleship,  and  that,  in  our  power  to 
play  purely  and  perfectly,  as  surely  in 
the  light  of  the  Divine  love  as  when 
we  pray  or  preach. 


74 


VII 

THE  DISCIPLE  AS  A  FEIEND 

I  would  joy  in  your  joy  :  let  me  have  a  friend's 

part 
In  the  warmth  of  your  welcome  of  hand  and  of 

heart, — 
On  your  playground  of  boyhood    unbend    the 

brow's  care, 
And  shift  the  old  burdens  our  shdulders  must 

bear. 

—J.  G.  Whittier. 

Of  all  the  words  in  our  language 
which  have  been  undergoing  change  of 
meaning,  perhaps  none  have  been  more 
abused  than  this  word  "  friend."  Hav- 
ing as  its  root  idea  the  thought  of  love 
— for  it  is  really  the  present  participle 
of  the  old  Anglo-Saxon  verb  "  freon," 
to  love — it  marked  in  old  time  the  close 
union  of  two  persons — other  than  rela- 
tives— in  the  bonds  of  sincere  love  for 
each  other,  love  that  made  each,  care 
for,  and  desire  to  serve,  the  other  better 
than  himself.     It  is  now  used  too  often 

75 


Discipleship 

in  a  loose  way.  A  man  is  my  friend 
to-day  if  he  be  but  a  passing  acquaint- 
ance, or  if  we  are  on  speaking  terms.  I 
want  to  write  of  the  disciple  as  a  friend 
in  the  older  sense  of  comradeship — 
close  heart — companionship.  The  word 
is  a  Bible  word,  and  comes  by  transla- 
tion both  from  the  Hebrew  and  the 
Greek,  from  words  conveying  this 
thought.  The  Hebrew  word  translated 
friend  signifies  an  associate,  and  comes 
from  the  root  "  to  pasture."  So  a  friend 
is  one  of  the  flock,  feeding  together, 
sharing  the  very  sustenance  of  life. 
The  Greek  word  is  the  word  lover,  and 
so  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  the 
thought  of  the  English  word  used  for 
its  translation. 

Man,  by  virtue  of  his  humanity,  all 
the  world  over,  seeks  for  friendship. 
The  life  of  the  hermit,  the  recluse,  is 
abnormal.  It  is  contrary  to  the  very 
genius  of  human  nature  for  man  to  live 
alone.  This  desire  for  friendship  grows 
out  of  the  deepest  necessity  of  his  na- 
ture, he  being  created  for  others  as  well 
as  for  himself.  Sympathy,  love,  service, 
are  the  very  essentials  of  human  nature 
76 


The  Disciple  as  a  Friend 

at  its  best,  and  these  demand  an  object. 
So,  in  the  largest  and  most  general 
sense  man  is  not  intended  to  be  alone. 
Coming  into  a  closer  consideration  of 
this  great  law,  we  find  among  men  this 
further  necessity  for  personal  friend- 
ship. Every  man  could  not  be  a  close 
companion  of  every  other.  We  have  to 
do  with  the  selective  law  of  affinity. 
That  is  the  subtle,  almost  undefinable 
somewhat,  which  draws  two  people  to- 
gether in  a  brotherhood,  sometimes 
closer  than  the  brotherhood  of  blood. 
We  say  undefinable,  because  it  is  often 
difficult  to  know  why  two  particular 
persons  are  such  friends.  Affinity  may 
mean  conformity,  agreement,  resem- 
blance ;  it  is  also  the  union  of  bodies  of 
a  dissimilar  nature  in  one  harmonious 
whole.  This  law  of  personal  friendship 
has  held  in  all  time.  David  and  Jona- 
than have  had  their  forerunners  and 
successors  throughout  the  generations 
of  human  kind.  Now,  in  this,  as  in  all 
other  matters,  Christ  comes  to  fulfill 
and  not  to  destroy.  He  sent  His  dis- 
ciples out  two  by  two,  as  I  believe,  on  a 
recognition  of  this  great  necessity  in 
77 


Discipleship 

human  life,  and  to  this  time  in  all 
Christian  service  and  Christian  living, 
the  strength  and  joy  of  a  strong  per- 
sonal friendship  is  almost  beyond  com- 
putation. 

1.  Facing  the  disciple  in  this  matter 
of  friendship  is  a  great  limitation.  He 
cannot  enter  into  any  close  bond,  save 
with  those  who  are,  like  himself,  sub- 
mitted to  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the 
highest  law  of  all  to  him,  and  nothing 
that  can  possibly  interfere  with  his  re- 
lation to  his  Lord  must  be  tolerated  for 
a  moment.  The  claim  itself  looks  hard 
and  arbitrary,  but  the  infinite  wisdom 
and  love  thereof  has  been  evidenced  by 
the  sad  results  accruing  to  those  who 
have  disregarded  it,  and  have  formed 
friendships  with  the  world  which  have 
proved  to  be  enmity  against  God.  The 
reason  is  perfectly  clear  to  those  who 
have  a  true  conception  of  what  dis- 
cipleship really  is,  and  how  radically  it 
differs  from  all  other  life. 

2.  Remembering  this,  now  for  a  mo- 
ment consider  how  discipleship  is  in 
itself  a  perfect  qualification  for  the 
highest  form  of  friendship.     Given  two 

78 


The  Disciple  as  a  Friend 

disciples  of  Jesus,  drawn  toward  each 
other  by  the  natural  law  of  affinity,  and 
see  how  His  work  in  them  fits  them  for 
a  friendship  of  the  strongest  and  most 
lasting  kind. 

I.  There  is  the  self-denial  which  He 
has  enjoined  upon  them  as  the  way  of 
entrance  upon  discipleship,  and  the  con- 
dition of  its  continuity.  If  self  be 
smitten  to  the  death,  the  one  most  pro- 
lific source  of  dissension,  and  the  break- 
ing up  of  friendship  has  gone.  With 
what  strength  we  can  love  and  serve  if 
we  have  lost  our  hold  on  self,  with  all 
its  unceasing  demands. 

II.  Then  the  common  consecration 
of  the  life  to  the  kingship  of  Jesus. 
Two  people,  loving  each  other,  and  each 
able  to  say,  "  That  life  which  I  now 
live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  in  faith,"  (Gal. 
ii.  20),  have  the  will  and  the  impulse  of 
One,  and  that  One,  in  way  and  work,  is 
ever  love. 

III.  Then  yet  further,  there  is  com- 
munion of  interest.  It  is  written  of  the 
hosts  that  gathered  to  Hebron,  that 
they  were  of  "  one  heart  to  make  David 
king."  That  common  cause  made  a 
79 


Discipleship 

people,  a  nation,  solid  and  strong.  So 
with  friendship  in  Jesus.  The  disciple 
has  nothing  to  live  for  but  by  word,  and 
deed,  and  prayer  to  bring  on  the  day  of 
his  Lord's  crowning ;  and  when  two  of 
these  are  brought  into  comradeship  by 
natural  law,  and  their  friendship  be- 
comes hot  with  the  common  fervor  of  a 
great  purpose  such  as  this,  how  strong 
and  lasting  must  such  friendship  be. 

8.  Remembering  the  limitation  and 
qualifications  of  friendship  let  us  now 
proceed  to  consider  the  friendship  of  dis- 
ciples in  itself.  Each  will  cherish  for 
the  other  a  very  high  ideal  of  life,  char- 
acter, and  service,  no  less  than  the 
will  of  God  in  each.  The  prayer  of 
Epaphras  for  the  Colossian  Christians 
44  that  ye  may  stand  perfect  and  fully 
assured  in  all  the  will  of  God"  (Col.  iv. 
12)  is  a  delightful  statement  of  the 
desire  that  disciple-comrades  ever  cher- 
ish for  each  other,  and  the  friendship  is 
ever  looked  upon  as  a  means  to  that 
end.  So  the  very  heart  of  the  golden 
rule  is  reached  in  such  friendship,  for 
each  does  to  the  other  what  he  would 
the  other  should  do  to  him.  When  this 
80 


The  Disciple  as  a  Friend 

is  so,  there  comes  that  delightful  sense 
of  rest  and  naturalness  in  each  other's 
company  which  is  the  very  essence  of 
friendship. 

Some  years  ago  a  friend  gave  me  a 
quotation  which  I  copied  into  my  com- 
monplace book.  It  was  from  Mrs. 
Craik's  M  Life  for  a  Life,"  and  I  give  it 
here  as  very  beautifully  expressing  that 
thought.  "  Oh,  the  comfort,  the  inex- 
pressible comfort  of  feeling  safe  with 
a  person,  having  neither  to  weigh 
thoughts  nor  measure  words,  but  pour 
them  all  right  out  just  as  they  are,  chaff 
and  grain  together,  knowing  that  a 
faithful  hand  will  take  and  sift  them, 
keep  what  is  worth  keeping,  and  then 
with  the  breath  of  kindness  blow  the 
rest  away." 

That  is  the  abiding  condition  of 
friends  of  Jesus.  All  necessity  for  re- 
serve and  hiding  is  gone,  in  the  abso- 
lute confidence  born  of  the  certainty  of 
high  unselfish  love.  This  laying  bare 
of  each  to  each  produces  the  true  vision 
of  each  to  each.  I  shall  thus  be  able  to 
recognize  quickly  all  the  excellencies  in 
the  character  of  my  friend  which  per- 
81 


Discipleship 

chance  other  persons  may  be  slow  to 
discover.  He  will  see  with  clearest 
vision  the  points  of  my  shortcoming 
and  failure.  Love  is  never  blind,  and 
we  shall  know  each  other  more  deeply 
and  truly  in  that  life  of  mutual  love, 
than  it  is  possible  for  man  to  know  man 
by  careful  calculation  or  closest  critical 
observation.  It  has  been  said  that 
41  Love  will  stand  at  the  door  and 
knock  long  after  self-conscious  dignity 
has  fallen  asleep  "  which  is  only  another 
way  of  expressing  Paul's  great  word 
11  Love  suffereth  long  and  is  kind,"  and 
because  this  is  true  the  clear  vision  of 
friendship  ever  makes  demands  on 
eager,  consecrated  service.  The  good 
recognized  will  be  developed  by  fellow- 
ehip,  and  where  that  good  is  costing  my 
friend  much  sacrifice  and  suffering,  by 
encouragement  and  fidelity.  The  short- 
coming will  be  matter  concerning  which 
the  friend  will  mourn  and  pray  in 
secret,  and  of  which  he  will  speak  in 
such  tones  of  tender  love,  that  his 
brother  will  be  won  to  the  higher  sur- 
render which  ever  means  victory  and 
advancement.     So  together,  and  by  the 

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The  Disciple  as  a  Friend 

reciprocity  of  this  holy  comradeship, 
there  will  be  a  building  of  each  other 
up,  and  a  several  growth  in  grace. 

There  is  no  higher  or  more  wonderful 
description  of  the  possibilities  of  true 
friendship  in  Jesus  than  that  contained 
in  Paul's  words  to  the  Romans  (xii.  15) 
44  Rejoice  with  them  that  rejoice ;  weep 
with  them  that  weep."  That  is  true 
sympathy,  and  perfect  sympathy  be- 
tween two  is  friendship.  The  word 
sympathy  has  too  long  been  robbed  of 
its  glory  by  the  narrowing  interpreta- 
tion which  has  considered  it  only  as  the 
power  44  to  weep  with  them  that  weep." 
That  is  the  smaller  and  easier  part  of 
true  sj^mpathy.  Sympathy  is  the  power 
that  projects  life  outside  the  circle  of 
personality  and  shares  the  life  of  an- 
other, feeling  the  thrill  of  the  other's 
joy,  and  the  pain  of  the  other's  woe. 
That  can  only  be  realized  when  the 
friendship  is  in  Jesus.  There  it  can  be, 
and  is.  Is  my  friend  in  trouble,  in  dif- 
ficulty, in  temptation  ?  I  am  his  com- 
panion still,  and  the  sorrow,  the  per- 
plexity, the  anguish  are  mine  also. 
Leave  him  now  he  has  fallen  ?  Impos- 
83 


Discipleship 

sible.  When  he  fell,  I  fell,  and  I  shall 
not  feel  erect  again  until  he  has  made 
even  that  fall  a  "  stepping-stone  to 
higher  things."  Is  my  friend  in  joy,  in 
prosperity,  in  victory  ?  I  am  yet  with 
him,  and  the  rapture,  the  success,  the 
triumph  are  mine  because  they  are  his. 
Be  jealous  of  his  promotion  ?  Again 
impossible.  If  he  rises  so  do  I,  and  all 
his  advancement  is  my  greatest  prog- 
ress, for  we  are  one. 

Blessed  is  the  man  that  hath  such  a 
friend.  It  is  impossible  to  have  many. 
I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  the  Divine 
ideal  that  we  should.  It  is  question- 
able whether  any  person,  apart  from 
the  higher  realm  of  relationship,  ever 
has  more  than  one.  Such  friendship 
cannot  be  separated.  Oceans  and  con- 
tinents may  divide.  The  mutual  love 
laughs  at  these,  and  in  daily  service, 
prayer,  and  meditation,  each  is  still 
with  the  other,  and  thinks,  and  plans, 
and  works  under  the  old  influences. 
This  friendship  knows  nothing  of  con- 
ventionality's little  axioms,  but  abides 
in  the  great  realm  of  love,  and  does 
things  strange  to  the  outside  beholder. 
84 


The  Disciple  as  a  Friend 

Such  friendship  cannot  be  broken. 
Death  is  but  a  pause,  wherein  the  one 
hears  from  the  great  silence  the  old 
voice,  and  feels  drawing  him  thither, 
the  old  love,  and  the  other  waits  in  the 
splendors  of  that  silence,  with  the  Lord, 
for  the  coming  of  the  fellow — whose 
song  will  add  to  heaven's  music. 
Friendship  is  always  beautiful,  but  the 
friendship  of  disciples,  based  upon  the 
law  of  affinity,  and  conditioned  and 
consummated  in  Christ,  is  peerless. 


VIII 

THE  DISCIPLE  AT  WOEK  FOR  THE 
MASTER 

Thou  shalt  tell  Me  in  the  glory 

All  that  thou  hast  done 
Setting  forth  alone :  returning 

Not  alone. 
Thou  shalt  bring  the  ransomed  with  thee, 

They  with  songs  shall  come 
As  the  golden  sheaves  of  harvest, 
Gathered  home. 

—T.P. 

This  is  preeminently  the  "fussy  "  age. 
Every  one  must  be  doing  something. 
Nothing  more  clearly  reveals  the  spirit 
of  the  age  than  the  contrast  between 
the  attitude  of  the  thought  of  men  to- 
ward work  now,  and  say,  fifty  years 
ago.  Then  the  busiest  endeavored  to 
make  it  appear  that  they  did  nothing. 
To-day  the  laziest  are  most  eager  for 
their  friends  to  think  of  them  as  over- 
worked. Personally,  taking  the  largest 
outlook,  I  think  this  is  a  decided  im- 
provement, for  it  is  an  approximation 


The  Disciple  at  Work 

to  the  Pauline  ideal  that  a  man  must 
work  or  starve.  It  has  touched  the 
Church  however,  and  there  has  wrought 
a  great  deal  of  mischief,  if  some  good. 
There  never  was  such  a  day  of  organ- 
izations, and  meetings,  and  societies. 
Why,  the  alphabet  is  nearly  exhausted 
in  giving  signs  that  stand  for  societies. 
We  preachers  are  in  danger  of  be- 
wilderment as  we  give  out  notices  con- 
cerning Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  I.  B. 
R.  A.,  P.  S.  A.,  P.  M.  E.,  Y.  P.  S.  C. 
E.,  S.  S.  U.,  and  so  on.  Now,  let  no  un- 
kind word  be  said  of  any  branch  of 
service.  All  the  honest  and  consecrated 
work  represented  by  these  very  letters 
I  have  quoted,  we  welcome  with  de- 
light and  thank  God  for.  Yet  this 
very  multiplication  of  work  has  in  it  an 
element  of  danger,  and  one  of  the 
perilous  sides  to  it  has  been  the  setting 
of  unsanctified  and  even  unconverted 
persons  to  work.  Side  by  side  with 
this  demand  for  workers  has  come  a  re- 
bound from  that  view  of  a  "  vocation  " 
which  culminated  in  priestism,  and  the 
fitness  of  a  caste  only  for  holy  service. 
As  is  so  often  the  case,  the  rebound  has 

87 


Discipleship 

gone  beyond  proper  limits.  We  have 
rightly  contended  for  the  rights  of  all 
believers  to  familiarity  with  the  things 
of  God,  and  freedom  to  serve.  We 
have  wrongly  extended  to  those  outside 
i  he  discipleship  the  opportunity  of  help- 
ing in  the  work  of  the  Master.  This 
has  been  to  their  detriment,  giving 
them  a  sense  of  security  to  which  they 
had  no  right,  and  it  has  also  been  to 
the  serious  injury  of  the  work  itself. 
We  must  return  to  first  principles. 
Personal  relation  to  Christ  is  vocation 
for  service.  Apart  from  it,  there  can 
be  none.  On  that  occasion,  when  the 
crowds,  having  come  by  sea  to  Caper- 
naum "  Seeking  Jesus "  asked  Him 
"  What  must  we  do  that  we  may  work 
the  works  of  God  ?  "  He  said,  "  This 
is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on 
Him  whom  He  hath  sent "  (John  vi. 
24-29).  Of  that  saying  Dr.  Westcott 
writes,  "  This  simple  formula  contains 
the  complete  solution  of  the  relation  of 
faith  and  works.  Faith  is  the  life  of 
works ;  works  are  the  necessity  of 
faith." 

It   cannot  be   too  strongly  insisted 


The  Disciple  at  Work 

upon,  or  too  frequently  urged,  that  they, 
and  they  only,  who  are  disciples  of 
Jesus,  are  called  to,  and  fitted  for,  fel- 
lowship with  Him  in  the  great  work  io 
which  He  is  pledged.  If  I  am  a  dis- 
ciple, I  am  perforce  a  worker,  for  the 
new  life  which  creates  my  personal  dis- 
cipleship  is  the  very  life  of  Christ — 
compassionate,  mighty,  victorious.  If 
I  am  not  a  disciple,  I  cannot  do  the 
work  of  God,  for  I  am  devoid  of  that 
life  which  alone  is  the  Divine  compas- 
sion for  man,  and  the  Divine  energy  for 
accomplishing  the  purposes  of  God. 

So  much  being  granted,  and  the  view 
gained,  that  the  disciple  at  work  for  the 
Master  is  really  the  Master  working 
through  the  disciple — that  is,  that  there 
is  oneness,  we  may  now  proceed  to 
consider  the  aim,  the  methods,  the 
strength,  and  the  issue  of  the  disciple's 
work  by  a  contemplation  of  the  Mas- 
ter's. 

1.  Christ  makes  a  great  statement  in 
John  ix.  4.  "  We  must  work  the 
works  of  Him  that  sent  Me."  This 
"  We  "  of  the  revised  version  teaches 
us  that  Christ  identifies  us  with  Him- 
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Discipleship 

self  in  His  work,  and  we  shall  best  un- 
derstand the  force  of  these  words  by 
gaining  a  clear  understanding  of  their 
setting.  Take  the  paragraph  chapters 
viii.  and  ix.  In  chapter  viii.  1-11  we 
have  the  account  of  Christ's  dealing 
with  the  woman  taken  in  adultery,  in 
chapter  ix.  6  and  on,  that  of  His  giving 
sight  to  the  blind  man.  Now,  examine 
the  part  that  intervenes.  The  opening 
statement  (viii.  12)  and  the  closing  (ix. 
5)  are  identical.  Growing  out  of  that 
statement  in  chapter  viii.  we  have  a 
long  controversy  on  inherited  privileges 
and  Divine  Sonship.  In  chapter  ix. 
the  disciple's  question  is  in  the  same 
realm,  though  it  deals  with  the  other 
side,  that  of  inherited  sin.  Christ  dis- 
misses their  speculations,  and  announces 
the  fact  of  His  work,  and  proceeds  to 
illustrate  it  by  another  example,  which 
at  once  answers  their  quibbling  and 
reveals  that  work.  This  blind  man  is, 
as  every  man  is,  a  revelation  of  human 
condition,  and  an  opportunity  for  the 
display  of  the  work  of  God.  What, 
then,  is  the  work  of  God?  The 
remedying  of  the  limitation  and  evil 
90 


The  Disciple  at  Work 

that  is  in  the  world,  and  the  restoration 
of  the  natural — that  is,  the  Divine  pur- 
pose. The  illustration  is  simple.  The 
underlying  revelation  is  sublime.  The 
Divine  rest  of  Genesis  ii.  1,  2,  was 
broken  by  man's  sin.  From  that  point 
God  has  been  at  work.  "  My  Father 
worketh  even  until  now  and  I  work  " 
(John  v.  17).  This  is  not  a  small  thing. 
It  grasps  all  in  its  compass.  It  cost  all 
in  its  effort.  The  Cross  is  the  supreme 
expression  of  that  Divine  work,  and 
that  is  onl}r  understood  when  it  is  seen 
as  the  eternal  force  by  which  man's 
ruin  and  limitation  are  overtaken,  and 
the  first  Divine  ideal  for  humanity 
realized.  In  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
there  moves  that  great  life  that  works 
with  ceaseless  and  unconquerable  en- 
ergy. "Thy  will  be  done,  Thy  king- 
dom come,"  is  the  disciple's  prayer ;  it 
is  also  the  aim  of  all  his  life  and  work. 
In  the  home,  the  business,  the  civic  re- 
lation, national  life,  the  Church,  we  are 
"  workers  together  with  Him,"  opening 
blind  eyes,  loosing  prisoners,  healing 
humanity's  wounds,  toiling  ever  on  to- 
ward the  morning  without    clouds,  in 

91 


Discipleship 

which  God  will  rest  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  His  purposes. 

2.  If  our  aim  is  identical  with  that 
of  the  Master,  it  follows  necessarily 
that  our  methods  must  be  identical  also. 
By  reading  carefully  and  in  conjunction 
John  v.  17-19,  and  xiv.  10,  we  find  that 
all  His  works  and  words  were  done  and 
spoken,  not  on  His  own  initiative,  but 
on  the  will  of  the  Father.  That  is  to 
say,  Jesus  not  only  worked  toward  the 
same  great  consummation  as  His  Father, 
but  along  the  same  lines,  by  the  same 
methods.  How  very  wonderful  are 
these  words  "  The  Son  can  do  nothing 
of  Himself,  but  what  He  seeth  the 
Father  doing."  "  The  words  that  I  say 
unto  you  I  speak  not  from  myself." 
From  this  position  the  enemy  directly 
and  indirectly  perpetually  sought  to 
allure  Him,  and,  thanks  be  to  God,  uni- 
formly and  absolutely  failed.  In  the 
wilderness  He  declined  the  kingdoms 
•f  this  world,  even  though  for  these  He 
hud  come,  on  any  condition,  or  by  any 
method  save  the  divinely  marked.  It 
is  just  here  where  the  evil  of  the 
44  mixed  multitudes  "  in  our  churches  is 

92 


The  Disciple  at  Work 

manifest.  The  true  disciple  must  be 
as  particular  about  the  methods  of  work 
as  about  the  final  issue  ;  but  so  many 
have  caught  some  faint  idea  of  the 
Divine  intention,  and  now  are  prepared 
to  adopt  any  method  that  seems  pol- 
itic and  likely  to  achieve  the  end. 
And  so  the  things  that  are  worldly, 
sensual,  devilish,  are  being  pressed  into 
the  service  of  the  churches — choirs  of 
professionals,  who  give  performances 
for  their  own  glory,  entertainments 
which  approach  as  nearly  as  possible  to 
the  world  ;  bazaars,  too  often  another 
name  for  illicit  trading.  The  devil's 
most  prolific  move  is  the  secularizing 
of  the  things  of  God,  tempting  men  to 
seek  to  possess  the  kingdoms  of  Christ 
by  falling  down  and  worshipping  him. 
The  disciple  worker  will  not  expect  to 
find  any  " near  cuts"  to  success,  any 
more  than  his  Master  did,  but  will 
travel  ever  by  the  way  of  the  Cross  of 
Offence  and  the  Resurrection  of  Power. 
The  methods  for  the  disciple  are  three- 
fold, as  it  seems  to  me. 

I.  The  example  of  the  life,  in  all  its 
details  loyal  to  the  Master ; 

93 


Discipleship 

II.  The  influence  exerted  by  the 
character  that  is  perpetually  growing 
in  grace,  by  unbroken  attention  to  the 
lessons  of  the  Teacher,  and  the  resultant 
incarnation  of  those  lessons; 

III.  The  specific  urging  of  the  claims 
of  Christ  upon  others,  so  that  no  day 
passes  in  which  an  effort  is  not  made  to 
win  a  soul  for  Christ,  by  word  spoken, 
or  written,  or  intercession  with  God. 

3.  The  next  point  is  a  remarkable 
one,  and  we  approach  it  reverently,  yet 
without  hesitation.  The  strength  in 
which  the  Master  accomplished  His 
work  is  that  by  which  we  are  to  ac- 
complish ours.  It  is  worthy  of  special 
note  that  Luke,  whose  second  treatise 
is  that  which  gives  us  the  account  of 
the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of 
His  acts  through  the  first  disciples, 
very  clearly  marks  for  us  our  Lord's 
dependence  upon  that  same  Spirit.  In 
Luke  iv.  1,  we  see  Him  returning  from 
Jordan  "full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
"  led  by  the  Spirit  in  the  wilderness." 
From  that  wilderness  experience  He 
enters  upon  the  work  of  His  public 
ministry,  and  in  Luke  iv.  14,  we  are 
94 


The  Disciple  at  Work 

told  He  did  so  "  In  the  power  of  the 
Spirit;"  and  in  the  passage  He  read  in 
the  synagogue  at  Nazareth,  He  claims 
the  anointing  of  the  Spirit  for  service 
(Luke  iv.  18).  So,  full  of  the  Spirit 
"  He  lived,  and  led  of  the  Spirit"  He 
went  fearlessly  through  all  the  great 
conflicts  of  human  nature,  and  "anoint- 
ed of  the  Spirit "  He  undertook  all 
specific  service.  Before  leaving  His 
disciples,  in  those  wonderful  discourses 
John  has  recorded,  He  promised  them 
that  His  Spirit  should  come  u  to  be  with 
them  forever "  (John  xiv.  16),  and 
that  His  mission  should  be  to  reveal 
to  them  the  person  and  teaching  of 
the  Master  (John  xvi.  13,  14).  Thus, 
then,  the  disciple  goes  forth  to  his  work 
in  the  self-same  strength  as  that  in 
which  the  Master  Himself  went  forth 
to  His.  The  only  understanding  I  can 
ever  have  of  the  purpose  of  God  comes 
by  the  revealing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
the  only  force  by  which  I  can  accom- 
plish anything  is  that  of  the  self -same 
Spirit.  What  a  glorious  reserve  of 
power  there  is  in  the  Spirit -filled  life, 
and   the   Spirit-anointed   worker.     All 

95 


Discipleship 

life  becomes  part  of  the  great  Divine 
activity.  Daily  duties  can  no  longer  be 
drudgery,  for  every  commonplace  con- 
tribution to  the  day's  necessities  is 
done,  for  the  hour  present,  and  for  the 
<iges  to  come,  toward  that  great  con- 
summation for  which  God  works. 
.Special  forms  of  service  have  new 
meaning  and  new  delight;  for  no  word 
inspired  of  the  Spirit  returns  void,  and 
no  work  energized  by  Him  is  lost  or 
worthless. 

4.  Of  the  issue  of  our  work,  few 
words  need  be  said.  Again  there  is 
identity  with  Christ.  "  If  we  endure, 
we  shall  also  reign  with  him  "  (II.  Tim. 
ii.  12).  If  Christ  ultimately  fails,  then 
the  piece  of  work  you  did  yesterday 
and  are  doing  to-day  will  perish.  If 
He  accomplish  all  His  great  purpose, 
then  nothing  I  have  done  toward  His 
end,  by  His  methods,  in  His  strength, 
can  be  lost.  There  will  be  a  gracious 
and  searching  day  of  testing,  when 
Love  will  burn  up  the  hay,  the  wood, 
the  stubble,  and  purify,  to  the  bright- 
ness of  the  very  home  of  God,  the  gold 
and  silver  and  precious  stones. 
96 


The  Disciple  at  Work 

Let  us,  then,  do  better  work  by  liv- 
ing nearer  to  the  King,  and  know  more 
fully  the  privilege  and  joy  of  service 
by  a  completer  abandonment  to  Him. 


IX 

THE  DISCIPLE  IN  SORROW 

Yet  sweeter  even  now  to  see  Thy  Face, 

To  find  Thee  now  my  rest 
My  sorrow  comforted  in  Thine  embrace 

And  soothed  upon  Thy  breast, 

Lord  there  to  weep  is  better  than  the  joy 

Of  all  the  sons  of  men  ; 
For  there  I  know  the  love  without  alloy 

I  cannot  lose  again. 

— H.  Suso. 

Sorrow  is  the  common  heritage  of 
humanity.  In  all  ages,  in  all  lands, 
under  all  conditions,  man  feels  pain, 
and  suffers  anguish.  Is  sorrow,  then,  a 
part  of  the  original  Divine  intention 
for  man  ?  Does  God  take  pleasure  in 
human  suffering  in  itself?  Assuredly 
not.  He  who  created  without  sorrow, 
will  also  wipe  all  tears  away.  And  yet 
to-day  sorrow  is  a  Divine  provision  hav- 
ing an  infinite  meaning  and  exerting  a 
marvellous  influence.  What  Cowper 
sang  is  certainly  true  : 
98 


The  Disciple  in  Sorrow 

11  The  path  of  sorrow,  and  that  path  alone, 
Leads  to  the  land  where  sorrow  is  unknown  ; 
No  trav'ller  ever  reached  that  blest  abode, 
Who  found  not  thorns  and  briars  on  his  road." 

Sorrow  came  in  the  track  of  sin,  not 
the  companion  and  ally  thereof  but 
God's  quick  messenger,  a  sense  of  loss, 
opening  at  once  the  door  back  to  the 
heart  and  home  of  His  love.  Sorrow  is 
a  deep  sense  of  loss,  the  consciousness 
of  lack,  the  natural  experience  of  a 
God-forsaken  life.  Had  there  been  no 
dethronement  of  the  King,  there  could 
have  been  no  sorrow,  for  the  whole 
being,  still  and  quiet  in  Him,  could 
have  had  no  sense  of  loss.  When  man 
committed  the  act  of  high  treason,  by 
listening  to  a  voice  that  called  in  ques- 
tion the  love  and  wisdom  of  the  Divine 
authority,  there  sprang  up  in  that  in- 
stance the  first  sense  of  lust,  ennui, 
hunger,  and  sorrow,  and  it  took  the 
form  of  a  desire  to  know  what  God  had 
not  revealed.  And  when,  following 
that  desire,  instead  of  returning  then 
and  there  to  allegiance  man  passed 
through  the  door,  seeking  liberty,  he 
found  himself  in  a  great  darkling  void, 


Discipleship 

without  God,  and  yet  possessed  of  a 
nature  making  demands  perpetually 
that  neither  he  himself  nor  any  other 
could  satisfy. 

Sorrow,  then,  is  the  result  of  sin,  but 
it  is  the  benevolent,  tender,  purposeful 
messenger  of  the  Eternal  Love,  who 
cannot  see  His  offspring  lose  all,  with- 
out causing  within  them  this  sense  of 
loss,  and  so  ever  by  that  means  attract- 
ing them  homeward.  Carry  out  that 
view  of  sorrow,  and  see  how  wondrously 
the  person  and  work  of  Jesus  agree 
thereto.  The  prophet,  long  before  He 
came,  spoke  of  Him,  "  A  man  of  sor- 
rows, and  acquainted  with  grief,"  and 
further  declared  "  Surely  He  hath  borne 
our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows." 
(Is.  liii.  3,  4).  Turning  from  that 
sacred  forthtelling  of  the  purpose  of  the 
Messiah's  coming  to  the  historical  ac- 
count of  His  life,  and  work,  I  find  the 
very  heart  and  centre  of  it  reached 
when  on  Calvary's  Cross  He  cried  from 
the  darkness  into  which  He  had  passed, 
seeking  that  which  was  lost,  "My  God, 
My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ?  " 
That  is  the  greatest  sorrow  of  all,  there 
100 


The  Disciple  in  Sorrow 

in  the  person  of  Christ  all  humanity's 
sorrow  and  anguish  and  tears  are 
centred.  That  is  the  expression  of  all 
agony.  Beyond  that  there  is  no  sor- 
row. And  that  is  also  the  great  cry  of 
humanity's  sin;  God  dethroned  by 
man ;  man  forsaken  by  God.  Beyond 
that  there  is  nothing.  So  He  bore  our 
griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows  in  that 
awful  hour  when  He  was  wounded  for 
our  transgressions  and  bruised  for  our 
iniquities.  There  all  the  world's  sin  is 
borne  and  its  sorrow  felt.  After  that — 
silence.  Surely  a  stillness  in  heaven, 
on  earth,  in  hell, — and  then  "  it  is  fin- 
ished "  from  His  lips,  and  He,  the  con- 
queror, died  by  "laying  down  "  His  life. 
Sin  is  put  away,  and  sorrow  is  recalled. 
Righteousness  commences  her  new 
reign  and  joy  follows  in  her  wake,  the 
glorious  possibilities  of  humanity  are 
opened  up,  for  Christ  has  lived  and 
died,  and  lives  forever  now,  and  is  a 
priest  "  after  the  power  of  an  endless 
life"   (Heb.  vii.  16). 

Yet  while  in  that  Cross  there  was  the 
rediscovery  of  God  to  man,  and  the 
rending  of  the  veil  for  man's  return, 

101 


Discipleship 

and  all  of  healing  provided,  the  appro- 
priation of  the  purchased  possession  is, 
in  the  wisdom  of  God,  secured  by  proc- 
esses that  cover  centuries  in  man's 
measurement,  and  so  sin  is  still  here, 
and  sorrow  must  therefore  remain  also. 
What,  then,  is  the  disciple's  relation 
thereto  ? 

1.  To  the  disciple  the  realm  of 
sorrow  has  become  circumscribed,  and 
that  in  a  large  measure.  The  great 
sorrows  of  humanity  are  personal  and 
self-centred.  Some  loss  experienced, 
some  injury  inflicted,  some  disappoint- 
ment realized,  these  are  the  common 
causes  of  sorrow.  In  proportion  as  self 
is  subdued  and  God  enthroned  in  the 
life,  this  class  of  sorrows  becomes  ob- 
solete. The  soul  finds  its  all  in  God  in- 
creasingly, and  so  is  able  not  merely  to 
be  resigned  but  to  rejoice  in  denials  as 
well  as  in  blessings  bestowed.  Very 
slow  we  may  be,  even  in  the  school  of 
Jesus,  but  this  is  the  growing  experi- 
ence of  those  who  are  learning  of  Him 
and  are  submissive  to  His  teaching; 
and  witnesses,  to  the  fact  that  God  fills 
all  the  gaps,  and  brings  the  heart  into 

102 


The  Disciple  in  Sorrow 

perfect  rest,  are  not  wanting,  neither 
are  they  few.  "The  heart  at  leisure 
from  itself"  is  a  heart  that  has  so 
learned  of  Jesus  as  to  rejoice  in  exactly 
the  circumstances  that  in  the  old  life 
caused  the  keenest  sense  of  sorrow. 

2.  From  this  is  seen  the  Mission  of 
Sorrow.  It  is  ever  a  disciplinary  force, 
drawing  the  heart  more  and  more 
toward  God,  as  it  creates  a  sense  of  the 
hollowness  and  uncertainty  of  all  that 
has  been  held  most  dear.  How  won- 
drously  this  is  manifest  in  the  life  of 
the  believer.  Take  two  persons — one 
whose  will  is  rebellious  and  whose  heart 
is  unregenerate,  the  other  a  disciple  of 
Jesus — and  let  them  pass  through  iden- 
tical experiences  of  bereavement,  afflic- 
tion, failure,  and  disappointment.  In 
the  one  case  the  spirit  becomes  embit- 
tered and  callous  and  the  character  de- 
generates; in  the  other  gentleness,  love, 
tenderness  are  the  results,  and  the  very 
face  catches  a  new  glory  and  beauty. 
The  one  defiantly  faces  sorrow,  and 
looking  upon  God's  messenger  as  an 
enemy  attempts  to  destroy  or  banish  it, 
and  so  sinks  into  hardness  and  hatred; 

103 


Discipleship 

the  other  is  drawn  to  the  heart  of  God, 
and  finds  the  very  pain  is  but  God's 
fire  for  the  destruction  of  dross,  and  so 
rises  into  that  ineffable  sweetness  and 
love  which  is  such  a  revelation  of  the 
power  of  the  God  of  Love. 

3.  What,  then,  is  the  secret  of  this 
effect  of  sorrow  upon  the  life  of  the  dis- 
ciple? The  companionship  of  Jesus. 
He  who  touched  the  inner  heart  of  all 
the  world's  agony  is  ever  present,  un- 
derstanding the  very  deep  meaning  of 
that  pain,  the  absence  of  God,  knowing 
that  every  form  of  anguish  was  ex- 
pressed in  that  great  cry  on  the  Cross, 
and  then  revealing  Himself  to  whatever 
form  of  the  need  is  present.  In  your 
darkest  anguish,  O  believing  heart,  what 
healed  you?  Was  it  not  that  Christ 
said  to  you  "  I  am  just  what  you  have 
lost,  and  infinitely  more  "  ?  and  as  you 
said,  "Yes,  my  Lord,  Thou  art,"  did 
not  all  the  horizon  kindle  with  a  new 
light,  and  all  the  pain  as  quietly  ease  as 
by  the  magic  of  His  own  touch? 

4.  Looking  back  over  our  sorrows 
since  we  entered  the  school  of  Jesus, 
there  is  yet  another  truth  to  be  recog- 

104 


The  Disciple  in  Sorrow 

nized,  and  that  is  the  fact  of  their  trans- 
mutation. When  the  Master  was  about 
to  leave  His  earliest  disciples,  He  said 
to  them  of  the  keenest  pain  of  the  time 
— the  thought  of  His  departure — "Your 
sorrow  shall  be  turned  into  joy  "  (John 
xvi.  20).  And  was  it  not  so?  They 
learned  in  the  coming  of  the  Paraclete 
how  expedient  it  was  for  them  that  He" 
should  go  away,  and  so  His  going  their 
greatest  grief — became  to  them,  in  His 
ascension  and  the  consequent  coming 
of  Himself,  into  nearer,  dearer  relation 
by  the  indwelling  Spirit,  their  greatest 
joy.  In  that  promise  was  there  not  a 
statement  of  the  whole  philosophy  of 
pain  to  a  believing,  trusting  heart  ?  How 
perpetually  sorrow  is  turned  into  joy. 
Mark — not  the  sorrow  removed,  and  so 
joy  coming,  but  the  sorrow  itself  be- 
coming the  joy.  Have  we  not  all  had 
such  experiences?  Can  we  not  look 
back  and  see  that  some  of  the  hourr 
that  throbbed  with  agony  were  the  most 
blessed  of  all  the  hours  of  life  ?  That 
personal  affliction,  that  grave,  that 
blighting  disappointment,  that  lonely 
hour  of  desolation,  would  you  omit  it 

105 


Discipleship 

from  life's  experience  if  you  could? 
No,  a  thousand  times,  no.  That  afflic- 
tion was  my  door  to  strength,  that  grave 
the  prelude  to  resurrection  power,  that 
disappointment  my  finding  His  appoint- 
ment, that  lonely  hour  the  one  in  which 
I  found  Jesus  only.  And  so  I  come 
to  understand  that  sorrow  means  my 
ignorance,  my  limitation,  and  by  faith 
I  learn  to  triumph  even  in  the  hour  of 
darkness,  having  learned  that  God's 
hand  arranges  warp  and  woof,  and  the 
perfect  pattern  He  knoweth,  and  for  the 
unfolding  of  that  I  wait  and  sing. 

5.  The  disciple  enters  a  new  realm 
of  sorrow.  Union  with  Christ  means  a 
measure  of  "  the  fellowship  of  His  suf- 
ferings" (Phil.  iii.  10).  "A  heart  at 
leisure  from  itself"  is  a  heart  to  "soothe 
and  sympathize."  Free  from  the  blight 
of  sorrow,  seeing  my  sorrows  as  His 
choicest  gifts  and  leaving  them  ever 
with  Him,  I  come  to  understand  the 
awful  needs  of  humanity,  and  I  go  to 
His  cross  to  be  in  some  measure  a  sharer 
of  His  suffering  for  others.  Out  of  that 
compassion  comes  all  service  that  really 
does  anything  for  humanity.      There 

106 


The  Disciple  in  Sorrow 

may  be  much  activity  in  the  self-life, 
but  it  is  little  worth.  In  the  death  of 
self  on  the  cross,  the  new  pain  begins, 
and  so  long  as  I  remain  here,  the  sorrow 
and  sin  of  the  world  must  press  on  my 
heart,  for  His  life  now  holds  and  gov- 
erns it. 

And  what  is  the  end?  Through  all 
earth's  pain  and  anguish  what  is  com- 
ing? Let  a  seer  of  the  old  and  new 
covenants  each  answer : — 

Isaiah :  "  The  ransomed  of  the  Lord 
shall  return,  and  come  with  singing 
unto  Zion  ;  and  everlasting  joy  shall 
be  upon  their  heads :  they  shall  obtain 
gladness  and  joy,  and  sorrow  and  sigh- 
ing shall  flee  away  "     (Is.  xxxv.  10). 

John :  "  And  He  shall  wipe  away 
every  tear  from  their  eyes ;  and  death 
shall  be  no  more ;  neither  shall  there  be 
mourning  nor  crying,  nor  pain  any 
more :  the  first  things  are  passed  away." 

Hallelujah.     Amen. 


107 


THE  DISCIPLE  IN  JOY 

My  heart  is  resting,  O  my  God, 
I  will  give  thanks  and  sing ; 

My  heart  is  at  the  secret  source 
Of  every  precious  thing. 

— Anna  L.  Waring. 

When  Eliphaz  the  Temanite  said 
"  Man  is  born  unto  trouble  as  the  sparks 
fly  upward  "  (Job  v.  7)  he  gave  utter- 
ance to  a  conclusion  arrived  at  after 
careful  observation  of  the  common  lot 
of  man ;  he  did  not  declare  the  birth  to 
trouble  to  be  an  essential  of  human  na- 
ture per  se.  Under  existing  conditions 
man  is  so  born,  but  that  is  contrary  to 
the  original  purpose  of  God  for  Him. 
The  Divine  intention  is  the  joy,  the 
happiness,  of  all  men.  Sorrow  is  an 
interpolation  in  the  Divine  plan,  neces- 
sary and  beneficent  as  we  saw  in  our 
last  chapter.  Joy  is  the  normal  condi- 
tion of  man,  God's  highest  work.  Sad 
and  sorrowful  as  the  earth  is  to-day  in 

108 


The   Disciple   in  Joy 

all  lands  and  climes,  man's  capacity  for 
joy  is  evinced  in  the  fact  that,  in  the 
vast  majority  of  lives,  there  are  more 
days  of  happiness  than  sorrow.  In  the 
face  of  overwhelming  disaster  in  all  the 
regions  of  his  being,  man  has  set  him- 
self with  indomitable  courage  to  wrest 
happiness  in  some  form  out  of  his  cir- 
cumstances, and  to  cry,  "  Begone  dull 
care."  Much  of  the  so-called  happi- 
ness of  men  is  inexpressibly  sad,  and 
poor,  and  sinful,  yet  the  fact  remains 
that  the  great  bulk  of  humanity  has  set 
itself  to  seek  for  happiness,  and  in  that 
fact  lies  the  proof  that  for  joy  man  was 
at  first  constructed.  Every  form  of  en- 
joyment that  man  has  devised  for  him- 
self is  his  attempt  to  reconstruct  out 
of  hopeless  wreckage  and  ruin  the 
glorious  past.  Heartbreaking  is  the 
picture,  yet  it  is  a  lurid  and  appalling 
testimony  to  the  magnificent  possibili- 
ties of  his  being.  The  man  with  the 
muckrake,  missing  the  true  vision  of 
glory  and  brightness  in  the  crown  held 
out  to  him,  does  nevertheless  witness  to 
his  capacity  for  the  crown  by  his  dili- 
gent attempt  to  gather  the  glitter  of  a 

109 


Discipleship 

straw,  the  color  of  purple,  the  shimmer 
of  tinsel.  Following  the  argument  that 
sorrow  is  a  sense  of  loss,  we  say  that 
joy  is  the  true  condition  of  God's  hu- 
manity, and  that  as  sorrow  entered  with 
the  loss  of  the  sense  of  God,  so  joy  is 
restored  as  man  finds  God. 

1.  The  disciple  restored  to  com- 
munion with  God,  is  restored  to  the 
place  of  joy.  That  is  a  remarkable 
word  which  the  apostle  uses  in  writing 
to  Timothy  (I.  Tim.  i.  11)  "  The  blessed 
God."  It  might  correctly  be  translated 
"  The  happy  God."  It  marks  for  us  a 
great  fact  in  the  character  of  God.  He 
is  blessed  for  evermore,  happy  in  the 
very  essential  of  His  nature.  Creation 
complete,  He  saw  it  "  very  good ;  "  and 
the  "  rest "  of  God  was  not  recuperation 
after  toil,  but  complacency,  satisfaction, 
happiness  in  His  work.  The  inspired 
seers  of  the  past  saw  Him,  and,  though 
the  surroundings  of  His  throne  were  to 
them,  clouds  and  darkness,  their  con- 
ception of  Him  was  ever  that  of  glory, 
beauty,  strength,  love,  peace,  happi- 
ness. When  man  fell,  that  very  hap- 
piness of  God  was  the  movement  toward 

110 


The  Disciple   in  Joy 

man's  recovery.  Read  the  closing  words 
of  Zephaniab's  prophecy  (hi.  14-20), 
especially  noting  the  seventeenth  verse: 
"  He  will  rejoice  over  thee  with  joy ; 
He   will   rest  in   His   love ;  He  will 

JOY  OVER  THEE  WITH  SINGING."    What 

words  can  be  more  beautifully  ex- 
pressive than  these  of  His  blessed- 
ness. When  Jesus,  the  express  image 
of  the  Father  came,  He  gave  us  in  many 
a  graphic  picture  the  same  conception. 
The  glad  Father,  the  rejoicing  shep- 
herd, the  happy  woman,  all  teach  the 
same  truth.  In  the  great  charta  of  the 
kingdom,  He  pronounces  upon  His  dis- 
ciples the  same  character.  "  Blessed  " 
here  may  be  as  correctly  rendered 
"  Happy,"  and  so  those  who  are  His  to- 
day, are  restored  to  living  communion 
with  the  "  Happy  God  "  and  are  thus 
themselves  brought  into  the  place  where 
it  becomes  possible  for  them  to  obey  the 
apostolic  word,  "  Rejoice  in  the  Lord 
alway :  again  I  will  say  Rejoice  "  (Phil, 
iv.  4). 

All  human  joy  is  tarnished  by  the 
presence   of  the   element  of  fear  and 
dread.     Man   cannot  escape   from  the 
ill 


Discipleship 

deepest  facts  of  his  own  nature,  and 
therefore  in  the  midst  of  every  form  of 
pleasure  there  comes  the  unnamable, 
disturbing  element  of  fear  and  appre- 
hension. This  may  be  concisely  stated 
by  saying,  no  man  has  power  to  per- 
fectly enjoy  the  present  who  cannot 
look  the  future  in  the  face  with  assur- 
ance. So  long  as  the  undiscoverable 
hour  of  death  haunts  the  consciousness 
of  man  with  a  vague  terror,  every  glad- 
ness may  be  blighted  in  a  moment  by 
the  recurrence  of  thoughts  which  man 
would  fain  banish.  I  do  not  speak  of 
low  forms  of  enjoyment,  but  of  high. 
Love,  friendship,  home,  nature,  art, 
music,  all  suggest  to  the  unforgiven 
soul  the  awful  possibility  of  cessation, 
and  then  the  unknown  to-morrow  be- 
comes the  tarnish  on  all  gold,  the  blight 
on  all  fruit,  the  spectre  of  all  hours. 
The  disciple  in  union  with  Christ  has 
found  the  solution  of  all  this  mystery. 
He  is  at  peace  with  the  end,  and  so  is 
free  for  the  true  enjoyment  of  the 
"now."  Because  "to  live  is  Christ," 
"  to  die  is  gain,"  and  because  "  to  die  is 
gain  "  life  is  worth  living,  for  the  spectre 
112 


The   Disciple    in   Joy- 
has  been  transformed  into  the  gentle 
angel  who  stands  ever  at  the  portal  of 
larger  and  more  generous  life. 

2.  Now,  how  does  this  effect  the  life 
of  the  disciple  ?  This  twofold  fact,  of 
communion  with  the  blessed  God  and 
the  consequent  casting  out  of  fear  from 
the  life,  introduces  into  all  pure  human 
joy  the  element  which  perfects  the  same. 
The  greatest  of  earth's  joy  is  in  earth's 
love.  The  ties  of  home  and  family,  the 
communion  of  friend  and  lover,  how  im- 
measurably are  these  joys  intensified  to 
the  believer.  The  union  of  two  in  mar- 
riage, based  upon  the  law  of  supreme 
affection  between  two,  when  these  are 
both  united  in  Christ  to  God,  how  holy, 
and  restful,  and  satisfying  to  the  heart. 
The  presence  in  the  house  of  children, 
when  they  are  recognized  as  gifts  of  the 
Eternal  Love,  to  be  nurtured  for  the 
King,  what  glorious  and  genial  sunshine 
it  is.  The  growth,  and  development, 
and  success  of  these  when  the  King's 
laws  are  obeyed,  what  pure  and  full  joy 
they  bring.  And  then  the  other  great 
avenues  of  enjoyment — nature  in  her 
thousand  varying  moods,  art  in  its 
113 


Discipleship 

wondrous  possibilities,  music  in  its  in- 
terpretation of  pure  thought  and  high 
enthusiasm,  how  the  disciple  enters  all 
because  in  his  relationship  to  Christ  he 
holds  the  mystic  key  which  admits  him 
to  their  inner  secrets.  Surely  every- 
where and  at  all  times  the  anointed 
soul  can  see  and  hear,  and  touch,  with 
keenness  and  precision  such  as  is  un- 
known apart  from  Christ.  Never  allow 
the  enemy  to  suggest  to  you  that  dis- 
cipleship is  the  limitation  of  joy.  It  is 
the  one  condition  of  human  life  to-day 
that  opens  every  door  of  human  delight 
and  permits  man  to  walk  in  the  splendid 
spaces  perfectly  at  home  in  the  happi- 
ness of  the  "  Happy  God." 

3.  The  greatness  of  this  joy  overtakes 
and  overwhelms  all  the  sorrows  that  re- 
main to  us.  "  How  many  children  have 
you?"  asked  one  of  a  Christian  father. 
Hear  the  reply,  "  Seven — five  live  with 
me,  and  two  with  Jesus."  Surely  this 
was  rejoicing  in  sorrow.  Did  he  not 
miss  the  prattle  of  the  tongues  now  si- 
lent, and  the  patter  of  the  little  feet? 
Assuredly  he  did  from  his  own  home, 
but  he  heard  them  still  by  faith  in  the 
114 


The  Disciple  in  Joy- 
palace  home  of  God,  and  the  joy  of 
possessing  some  treasure  of  his  very 
own  there,  was  more  than  compensa- 
tion. The  joy  of  sorrow  lies,  moreover, 
in  the  fact  that  it  preludes  and  prepares 
for  the  joy  beyond.  Of  our  beloved 
Lord  it  is  said  "  Who  for  the  joy  tha 
was  set  before  Him  endured  the  Cross, 
despising  the  shame,"  and  that  marks 
our  glad  pathway  through  all  the  dis- 
ciplinary sorrow  of  probationary  days. 
To  us  on  every  sorrow  falls  the  light  of 
the  joy  beyond,  and  that  not  merely  as 
compensation,  but  as  result.  So,  while 
we  are  ofttimes  u sorrowful"  we  are 
"yet  always  rejoicing." 

4.  In  our  last  study  we  spoke  of  the 
new  sorrow  that  comes  to  the  disciple 
in  communion  with  Christ — viz: — that 
of  sympathy  with  all  the  sin,  and  sor- 
row of  suffering  humanity.  Now,  we 
must  also  recognize  the  new  joy  that 
springs  out  of  service.  To  me  it  is 
difficult  to  speak  or  write  of  that  joy. 
Have  you  ever  led  one  soul  to  Christ  ? 
Then  you  know  more  than  all  words 
can  teach  you  of  the  essence  of  real  joy. 
To  tell  the  evangel,  to  pray  with  the 

115 


Discipleship 

seeker,  to  travail  in  birth  for  souls,  to 
see  the  breaking  of  the  light  of  God,  to 
find  another  passing  to  His  kingdom, 
this  is  life  and  joy  indeed.  Paul,  the 
great  missionary,  the  man  who  so  won- 
drously,  in  those  days  of  suffering  and 
peril,  laid  his  whole  being  upon  the 
altar  of  His  Master's  cross  for  other's 
blessing,  could  think  of  no  greater  joy 
in  heaven  than  that  of  souls  newborn 
through  his  toil  and  suffering.  "For 
what  is  our  hope,  or  joy,  or  crown  of 
rejoicing?  Are  not  even  ye  before  our 
Lord  Jesus  at  His  coming?  For  ye  are 
our  glory  and  our  joy  "  (I.  Thess.  ii. 
19,  20).  And  surely  that  joy  is  the 
Divine  joy.  It  is  over  a  redeemed  peo- 
ple that  God  "joys  with  singing,"  and 
it  is  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  great 
purposes  of  the  Eternal  Love,  that  the 
Master  "  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  His 
soul,  and  be  satisfied." 


116 


XI 

THE  DISCIPLE  GOING  HOME 

Soon  the  whole, 

Like  a  parched  scroll, 
Shall  before  my  amazed  sight  uproll, 

And,  without  a  screen, 

At  one  burst  be  seen 
The  Presence  wherein  I  have  ever  been. 
— Thomas  Whytehead. 

When  Bernard  of  Cluiiy  wrote 

"  Brief  life  is  here  our  portion  " 

as  the  opening  words  of  his  great  hymn, 
he  penned  a  fact  that  is  an  abiding  con- 
sciousness with  men  of  all  ages  and 
every  clime.  The  glory  of  the  hope, 
and  certainty  of  the  faith  which  charac- 
terize that  hymn,  are  beyond  the  ex- 
perience of  thousands,  but  that  first 
statement  finds  an  affirmative  echo  in 
every  heart,  whenever  and  wherever 
sung.  That  life  is  passing,  the  number 
of  our  appointed  years  becoming  smaller, 
by   a   perfectly  quiet  and  orderly,  yet 

117 


Discipleship 

irrevocable  and  absolutely  unalterable 
sequence,  every  person  knows  full  well. 
That  the  last,  year,  the  last  break  of 
day,  the  last  moment  will  come ;  and 
moreover,  that  not  a  single  one  among 
the  millions  of  the  race  now  moving  on 
toward  the  end  can  tell  the  year  or  day 
or  hour  of  that  end,  these  are  solemn 
and  self-evident  truths. 

That  end,  called  death,  is  at  once 
the  greatest  certainty,  and  the  greatest 
mystery  of  all.  To  the  consciousness 
of  the  natural  man  there  is  no  escape 
from  it,  and  yet  around  it  has  gathered, 
for  the  thinkers  of  all  ages,  and  the 
teachers  of  all  systems,  and  for  those 
also,  the  many,  who  will  not  think,  and 
who  seek  no  teachers,  a  great  darkness 
and  mystery,  so  that  man  naturally 
shrinks  from  it,  and  by  every  means  in 
his  power  seeks  to  put  off  the  day  which 
is  the  last.  Yet,  as  man  strives  to  do 
this  he  knows  how  futile  is  the  strife, 
and  so,  by  a  sort  of  common  consent, 
unwritten  and  yet  binding,  man  is  en- 
deavoring by  a  forced  forge  tfu  In  ess  to 
banish  death  and  its  awful  dread.  What 
then  is  the  attitude  of  the  disciple  to- 
ns 


The  Disciple  Going  Home 

ward  this  fact  of  the  onward  movement 
of  this  present  life  toward  an  end? 

1.  The  answer  may  be  very  briefly 
stated  first  as  a  matter  of  fact.  The 
disciple  dares  contemplate  that  end ;  no 
longer  shrinking  from  thought  of  it,  he 
calmly  faces  it,  questions  it,  smiles  at 
it,  and  standing  in  its  presence  con- 
fronts it  without  fear  or  fainting.  More 
than  that,  the  disciple  thus  facing  the 
end,  from  that  very  contemplation  seems 
to  catch  a  new  radiance  as  of  a  light 
that  never  was  on  land  or  sea,  his  gaze 
into  what  the  world  has  ever  thought 
of  as  dark  and  mysterious,  giving  to  his 
eye  a  brightness  which  tells  of  visions 
that  add  their  lustre  and  their  hope  to 
all  the  experiences  of  the  passing  hour, 
so  that  to  him,  the  contemplation  of  the 
end,  instead  of  shadowing  all  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  moment,  fills  the  darkest 
day  with  light,  and  makes  every  hour 
of  sorrow  an  occasion  of  rejoicing.  To 
the  truth  of  this  the  experience  of  the 
Master  Himself,  and  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  the  followers  of 
Jesus  in  each  successive  century  bear 
unequivocal  testimony.     Let  us  confine 

119 


Discipleship 

ourselves  to  the  experience  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  testimony  of  New  Testa- 
ment writers.  The  writer  of  the  letter 
to  the  Hebrews  (xii.  2)  gives  us  an  in- 
spired and  remarkable  vision  of  our 
Lord's  view  of  the  end  of  His  human 
life.  He  saw  the  "  Cross  "  and  "  Shame," 
and  "  endured  "  the  one,  "  despising  " 
the  other,  for  the  "  Joy "  that  was  set 
before  Him.  Of  course  this  has  a  much 
wider  application,  but  it  certainly  con- 
tains this  revelation  of  our  Master's 
view  of  the  end  of  His  life, — the  dark- 
est and  most  mysterious  end  of  all — ■ 
that  what  bulked  most  largely  on  His 
vision  was  a  "  Joy "  that  lit  the  dark- 
ness, and  negatived  the  "  shame." 

The  experience  of  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament,  as  revealed  in  their 
writings,  is  on  the  same  plane.  Paul's 
writings  abound  with  such  conceptions. 
"I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  .  .  .  . 
are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with 
the  glory  .  .  .  ."  (Romans  viii.  18). 
"  To  die  is  gain  "  (Phil.  i.  21). 
My  departure  is  come  ....  hence- 
forth ....  a  crown  "  (II.  Tim.  iv.  6,  7, 
8).     These  passages  should  of   course 

120 


The  Disciple  Going  Home 

be  read  in  their  entirety,  and  they  are 
but  examples  of  many  others,  all  reveal- 
ing the  same  truth.  Peter,  looking 
forward,  speaks  of  "A  living  hope 
.  .  .  .  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  and 
undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away" 
(I.  Peter  i.  3-9).  James,  lights  up  the 
darkness  of  trying  circumstances  with 
the  thought  of  the  end,  saying  uBe 
patient  ....  until  the  coming  of  the 
Lord"  (v.  7).  John,  exulting  in  pres- 
ent blessedness,  views  the  end,  and 
from  the  vision  gathers  new  hope  and 
purifying  power  "  Beloved,  now  are  we 
children  of  God  ....  we  shall  be  like 
Him "  (I.  John  iii.  2).  Jude  sees  be- 
yond the  present  period  of  growth  one 
of  perfection  "  Him  that  is  able  .... 
to  set  you  before  the  presence  of  His 
glory,  without  blemish "  (Verse  24). 
To  this  strong,  courageous,  and  victo- 
rious outlook  of  the  earliest  saints  may 
be  added  the  testimony  of  the  disciples 
of  all  the  ages. 

2.  So  far  we  have  made  a  statement 
only.  Let  us  now  endeavor  to  under- 
stand this  attitude  of  the  Lord  and  His 
disciples.     There  are  two  statements  of 

121 


Discipleship 

the  New  Testament,  which  are  so  re- 
markable on  account  of  their  clear  un- 
mistakable meaning,  that  we  will  con- 
sider them  only,  as  being  sufficient  to 
account  for  all  we  have  said.  The  first 
is  contained  in  the  words  of  Jesus  Him- 
self to  Martha  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus 
(John  xi.  26).  Let  us  in  all  simplicity 
and  straightforwardness  read  these 
words  "  Whosoever  ....  believeth  in 
Me  shall  never  die."  The  other  is 
a  statement  by  Paul  (II.  Tim.  i.  10). 
" .  .  .  .  Our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  Who 

ABOLISHED  DEATH." 

Nothing  can  be  simpler  or  more  force- 
ful. Our  Lord,  speaking  to  Martha 
meant  just  what  the  words  convey  in 
our  translation,  that  to  the  soul  believ- 
ing on  Him  there  is  no  dying.  Death 
is  not  to  that  soul  what  it  seems  to 
humanity  at  large.  The  life  that  one 
already  lives,  is  the  very  life  of  God 
and  eternity,  and  there  is  no  death. 
That  is  precisely  the  thought  of  Paul. 
The  word  "  abolished  "  literally  means 
rendered  entirely  useless,  robbed  of  its 
power  to  act. 

3.  How  has  this  been  brought  about, 

122 


The  Disciple  Going  Home 

aud  how  are  the  disciples  of  Jesus  able 
to  appropriate  the  stupendous  miracle 
as  an  experience  ?  On  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost, Peter  declared  the  fact  of  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus,  not  only  to  be 
the  work  of  God,  but  to  have  been  an 
absolute  necessity  by  virtue  of  what 
Jesus  was  in  Himself  (Acts  ii.  24). 
"  Whom  God  raised  up,  having  loosed 
the  pangs  of  death,  because  it  was  not 

POSSIBLE  THAT  He  SHOULD  BE  HOLDEN 

OF  it."  So  much  for  the  reason  of  the 
Master's  own  view  of  the  future.  Now 
read  Heb.  ii.  14,  15.  "Since  then  the 
children  are  sharers  in  flesh  and  blood, 
He  also  Himself  in  like  manner  partook 
of  the  same;  that  through  death  He 
might  bring  to  nought  him  that  had  the 
power  of  death,  that  is  the  devil ;  and 
might  deliver  all  them  who  through 
fear  of  death  were  all  their  lifetime 
subject  to  bondage."  There  we  see 
how  through  His  death  He  has  given  us 
victory  over  death,  and  taken  from  us 
its  fear.  Before  He  left  His  disciples 
He  made  that  great  declaration,  "  Be- 
cause I  live,  ye  shall  live  also  "  (John 
xiv.    19).     Therefore  we   are   brought 

123 


Discipleship 

into  the  place  of  His  victorious  life, 
through  the  overcoming  of  His  victo- 
rious death. 

If  then  He  has  abolished  death,  what 
now  remains?  It  is  still  certain  that 
these  probationary  days  will  end,  this 
life  of  limitation  and  testing  come  to  a 
conclusion,  all  this  changing  scene  pass 
away,  and  still  it  is  true  that  the  end  is 
not  known  as  to  its  time.  Wherein  do 
we  differ  then,  as  disciples  of  Jesus, 
from  the  crowd  ?  In  this,  that  instead 
of  death  being  the  end,  He  Himself 
stands  waiting  for  us  and  ever  approaches 
us,  and  whether  we  are  among  the 
number  of  those  "  that  are  alive,  that 
are  left  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord," 
or  "  them  that  are  fallen  asleep,"  still 
the  end  of  the  present  is  Himself,  for 
to  sleep  is  just  to  be  "  absent  from  the 
body,  at  home  with  the  Lord,"  not  to 
die,  and  to  remain  to  His  coming  is  just 
to  "  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air."  So 
when  evening  comes  to  the  disciple 
and  he  turns  his  back  upon  the  glories 
of  the  western  sky  and  faces  the  east, 
it  is  not  cold,  and  dark,  and  cheerless, 
but  full  of  light,  for  the  sun  fills  all  the 
124 


The  Disciple  Going  Home 

horizon,  and  so   to  the   child  of  trust 
"  There  is  no  night." 

Disciples  then  are  not  called  upon  to 
prepare  for  death,  but  for  Htm,  and 
that  hope  purifies,  refines,  illumines  all 
the  hours  with  the  radiance  of  the 
Eternal  Day.  We  cannot  fear  death 
then,  for  to  us  all  is  changed.  The  end 
has  become  the  beginning,  mystery  is 
transformed  into  the  vestibule  of  reve- 
lation, rest  from  labor  is  entry  upon 
highest  work,  and  at  eventide  there  is 
the  light  of  the  Eternal  morning  in 
which  is  the  disciple's  home. 


135 


XII 

THE  DISCIPLE  IN  GLORY 

Bear  me  on  thy  rapid  wing 

Everlasting  Spirit, 
Where  the  choirs  of  angels  sing 

And  the  saints  inherit. 

— Anon. 

How  little  we  know,  comparatively, 
of  the  hereafter.  "  Life  and  incorrup- 
tion  have  been  brought  to  light"  in  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus,  and  death  has  been 
transformed  from  a  foe  to  a  friend,  but 
the  Revelation  is  characterized  by  its 
silence  with  regard  to  the  future  rather 
than  by  its  declarations.  It  is  as  though 
God  would  not  draw  men  toward 
righteousness  either  by  threatened  pun- 
ishment, or  promised  reward.  Enough, 
however,  has  been  said  to  give  us  to 
understand  the  terrors  of  being  lost, 
and  the  blessedness  of  being  saved. 

Of  the  occupation  of  the  disciple  of 
Jesus    in    that   life    that  lies   beyond, 

126 


The  Disciple  in  Glory 

more  has  heen  said  than  appears  on  the 
surface.  There  is  one  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture which  is  constantly  being  half- 
quoted,  or  quoted  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, when  surely  we  should  quote  it 
with  Paul's  expository  word.  Let  us 
examine  this.  (Is.  lxiv.  4).  "For 
since  the  beginning  of  the  world,  men 
have  not  heard,  nor  perceived  by  the 
ear,  neither  hath  the  eye  seen,  O  God, 
beside  Thee,  what  He  hath  prepared  for 
him  that  waiteth  for  Him."  Now  to 
whatever  that  may  refer,  Paul  writing 
to  the  Corinthians  (I.  ii.  9,  10)  dis- 
tinctly goes  on  to  say  that  these  hidden 
things  are  revealed  to  us  by  the  Spirit, 
and  yet  this  quotation  is  used  almost 
invariably  to  prove  that  we  can  know 
nothing  of  the  future  of  the  blessed. 
Again,  let  closer  attention  be  given  to 
these  passages  and  the  correct  and  much 
more  beautiful  rendering  of  the  Revised 
Version  be  accepted,  and  it  will  at 
once  be  discovered  that  there  is  no 
reference  whatever  either  by  Isaiah,  or 
by  Paul's  use  of  Isaiah's  words  to  the 
future  life.  Both  are  referring  to  the 
wonders  of  the  wonder-working  God  in 

127 


Discipleship 

the  progress  of  events  which  men  could 
not  perceive  or  hear,  save  by  the  spirit 
of  God,  who  revealed  them  in  due  time 
to  those  who  waited  for  Him.  That 
men  did  not  see  the  working  of  God 
in  history,  witness  the  attitude  of  the 
disciples  of  Jesus,  until  the  Holy  Spirit 
came  and  illuminated  that  history. 
This  is  the  broad  principle  of  the 
teaching  of  the  passages,  and  it  may  be 
applied  to  the  case  now  under  consid- 
eration. To  the  casual,  unenlightened 
reader  the  Scripture  says  very  little  of 
the  future.  To  the  Spirit-taught  it 
says  far  more  than  we  can  comprehend, 
and  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to 
indicate  the  lines  of  that  teaching 
rather  than  to  attempt  to  exhaust  the 
great  theme.  In  our  first  ten  divisions 
we  have  dealt  with  the  disciple  in  his 
probationary  life.  That  is  by  far,  and 
of  necessity,  the  smaller  part  of  his  ex- 
istence. Probation  is  of  the  greatest 
importance,  but  it  ever  presupposes 
something  far  more  important  stretch- 
ing out  beyond,  and  the  great  fact  of 
discipleship  is,  that  it  is  a  process  of 
preparation  of  one  who  is  not  a  citizen 

128 


The  Disciple  in  Glory 

of  the  earth,  of  one  whose  home  and 
place  of  service  lie  out  beyond  the 
shadows  that  seem  to  bound  the  vision 
to-day.  In  our  last  chapter  we  have 
seen  him  meeting  the  Master  at  the  end 
of  probation.  May  we  now  close  this 
study  by  very  reverently  looking  within 
the  veil,  so  far  as  it  has  been  lifted,  at 
the  occupation  and  final  destiny  of 
those,  who  through  all  this  gracious 
discipline  have  been  so  patiently  trained 
by  the  greatest  of  all,  nay,  the  only 
Teacher  of  humanity. 

1.  The  abolishing  of  death  makes  it 
perfectly  certain  that  there  can  be  no 
unconscious  gap  in  the  existence  of  the 
believer.  What  we  have  too  constantly 
spoken  of  as  death,  by  virtue  of  its  be- 
ing the  meeting  of  the  disciple  and  his 
Lord — without  the  limitations  of  mater- 
ial trammels,  which  are  always  in  some 
sense  a  clog  to  the  development  of  the 
Spirit  life — in  that  state  where  faith  is 
lost  in  sight,  and  hope  in  full  fruition 
dies,  becomes  clearer,  fuller  conscious- 
ness. The  phrases  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment which  describe  that  state  give  us 
most  suggestive  and  valuable  teaching 

129 


Discipleship 

concerning  it.     Let    us    take    two  of 
these,  both  from  the  writings  of  Paul. 

I.  II.  Cor.  v.  8.  "  Absent  from  the 
body  ....  at  home  with  the  Lord." 
The  use  of  the  phrase  "  at  home,"  in- 
stead of  the  word  "  present  "  as  in  the 
authorized  version,  is  necessary  to 
ensure  consistency  of  translation  for 
the  whole  passage,  as  it  is  the  same 
word  translated  "  at  home  "  in  verse  6. 
What  a  perfect  and  beautiful  thought 
of  the  first  consciousness  of  the  dis- 
ciple in  that  larger  life.  "  At  home." 
The  word  analyzed  conveys  the  idea  of 
being  among  one's  own  people,  and  that 
is  the  true  thought.  We  move  in  that 
gracious  transition  into  the  condition 
of  being  perfectly  at  rest  in  the  Lord's 
presence.  In  all  the  high  spiritual  as- 
pects of  our  life,  we  have  been  strang- 
ers here.  There  we  shall  be  "  at  home." 
Here  our  relationships  have  been  those 
of  sojourners  in  tents,  strangers,  and 
our  sense  of  the  Lord's  presence, 
blessed  as  it  has  been,  compared  to 
what  it  will  be  then,  has  been  partial, 
limited.  There  we  shall  fit  in  to  all  the 
conditions  toward  which  He  has  led  us 
130 


The  Disciple  in  Glory 

and  for  which  He  has  trained  us,  and  so 
there  we  shall  first  fully  comprehend 
the  meaning  of  much  of  the  training  of 
to-day.  Oh  the  luxury  of  it.  Only 
those  who  have  been  away  from  their 
earthly  homes  for  awhile  know  how  in- 
tensely sweet  is  the  sense  of  being  "  at 
home  "  again.  The  one  atmosphere  in 
which  there  is  freedom  from  the  sense 
of  disquietude  and  unrest.  And  yet 
more  marvellous  is  the  grace  of  it.  The 
"  at  home  "  just  beyond  the  shadows  is 
"  with  the  Lord."  That  I,  who  feared 
and  shunned,  and  alas,  slighted  and 
contemned  Him,  am  at  last  to  be  "  at 
home  "  with  Him  passes  all  telling  in 
its  evidence  of  His  great  grace. 

II.  Phil.  i.  23.  "  To  depart,  and  be 
with  Christ."  This  word  to  depart  is 
undoubtedly  used  here  in  the  sense  of 
loosing  a  ship  from  its  moorings,  and  so 
Tennyson  repeated  the  Pauline  con- 
ception when  he  wrote, 

"  Aud  let  there  be  no  moaning  of  the  bar 
When  I  put  out  to  sea, 
And  may  there  be  no  sadness  of  farewell 
When  I  embark." 

What  then  is  this  embarking  and  un- 
131 


Discipleship 

loosing  ?  Do  I  drift  into  unconscious, 
ness  for  a  season  ?  No,  I  am  with 
Christ. 

1 '  I  hope  to  see  my  Pilot  face  to  face 
When  I  have  crossed  the  bar." 

Note  the  immediateness  of  it.  Dr. 
Moule  says,  "  Not  a  space,  but  a  mathe- 
matical line,  divides  the  state  of  faith 
this  side  death  from  the  state  of  sight 
that  side."  So  then  the  first  conscious- 
ness of  the  disciple  in  the  New  Life  is 
that  of  the  Master  in  clear  and  un- 
clouded vision. 

2.  What  then  is  the  present  condition 
and  occupation  of  those  who  have  de- 
parted ?  Between  the  time  of  their 
leaving  this  scene,  and  the  morning  of 
the  Resurrection  there  is  an  interval. 
It  is  an  interval  of  incompleteness,  for 
as  yet  they  have  not  received  their 
Resurrection  bodies.  We  have  already 
seen  that  this  interval  is  spent  in  a 
closer  connection  with,  and  clearer 
vision  of  Christ.  The  nature  of  the  oc- 
cupation is  the  subject  of  our  considera- 
tion now.  In  the  closing  words  of 
Hebrews   xi.  (verses   39,  40),  a  great 

132 


The  Disciple  in  Glory 

principle  is  declared  with  regard  to 
those  who  have  gone  before.  Its  ap- 
plication by  the  writer  of  this  Epistle  is 
to  that  great  company  of  the  heroes 
and  heroines  of  faith  of  whom  he  has 
been  speaking.  It  may  also  safely  be 
applied  to  all  those  who  in  this  Chris- 
tian Era  have  fallen  on  sleep  or  will  do 
so.  "  That  apart  from  us  they  should 
not  be  made  perfect."  In  this  applica- 
tion of  the  passage  we  are  to  under- 
stand that  the  perfecting  of  the  dis- 
ciples will  only  be  when  the  Lord 
gathers  to  Himself  the  whole  company 
of  them.  The  occupation  therefore  of 
those  who  thus  wait,  in  blessedness,  for 
the  end  of  the  age,  and  the  gathering 
into  the  glory  of  the  whole  Church  of 
Christ  may  be  gathered  by  a  line  of 
reasoning  to  the  correctness  of  which 
Scripture  itself  bears  testimony. 

They  are  closer  to  Christ,  and  there- 
fore their  understanding  of  His  work 
and  service  must  be  much  clearer.  This 
better  knowledge  must  necessarily  pro- 
duce a  deeper  sympathy.  The  first 
propulsion  of  the  Christ-life  in  the 
soul  of  the  regenerate  on  earth  was  a 

133 


Discipleship 

movement  of  compassion  toward  the 
souls  for  whom  He  died,  and  an  act  of 
service  on  their  behalf  in  some  definite 
form  or  other.  Now  that  their  posses- 
sion by  Christ  is  so  much  more  com- 
plete, it  surely  follows  that  their  love 
for  those  whom  He  so  wondrously  loves, 
is  far  more  intense.  Can  we  possibly 
think  of  them  as  having  this  deeper 
love  and  yet  being  inactive  ?  Assuredly 
not.  The  things  that  interest  and  oc- 
cupy Him,  must  interest  and  occupy 
them  supremely  ;  and  so  we  can  only 
think  of  them  as  raised  into  a  region  of 
higher  service  within  the  same  great 
redemptive  circle  in  which  they  moved 
while  still  on  the  earth.  I  give  it  as 
my  firm  conviction  that  all  our  loved 
ones  gone  before,  are  serving  the  cause 
of  the  work  and  purpose  of  God  among 
men  in  a  better  way  than  they  ever  did 
while  sojourners  here  below.  Does  not 
this  view  light  up  for  us  many  dark 
events  in  our  own  lives  ?  Those,  whom 
God  has  wondrously  blessed  here,  and 
then  suddenly  called  away  just  when 
we  were  feeling  they  could  not  be 
spared,  have  not  ceased  their  work  as  we 
134 


The  Disciple  in  Glory 

thought,  but  have  been  promoted  to 
some  higher  place  and  work.  To  this 
view  of  the  occupation  of  the  departed 
that  word  of  (Rev.  xiv.  13)  agrees. 
"  That  they  may  rest  from  their  labors ; 
for  their  works  follow  with  them."  The 
immediate  application  is  to  the  number 
of  the  saints  who  will  suffer  martyrdom 
in  a  subsequent  era,  but  the  truth  has 
a  present  application  as  well,  and  the 
inner  teaching  may  perhaps  best  be 
gathered  by  a  paraphrase,  the  result  of 
a  careful  analysis  of  the  words  actually 
used :  "  They  rest  from  that  toil  which 
is  painful  and  reduces  the  strength,  but 
their  works,  their  activities,  accompany 
them."  That  is  to  say  their  activity 
does  not  cease,  but  only  that  form  of  it 
which  brings  weariness  and  suffering, 
and  so  we  think  of  beloved  servants  of 
God,  singers,  teachers,  preachers,  sud- 
denly, and  to  all  human  seeming  pre- 
maturely removed  from  earth,  no  longer 
as  beyond  the  province  of  redemptive 
service,  but  as  more  than  ever  fully  oc- 
cupied in  clearer  light  and  fuller  oppor- 
tunity. 

3.  This  condition  of  incompleteness, 
135 


Discipleship 

for  them  and  for  us,  will  end  when 
44  The  Lord  Himself  shall  descend  from 
heaven  with  a  shout,  and  the  voice  of 
the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of 
God  :  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise 
first :  then  we  that  are  alive,  that  are 
left,  shall  together  with  them  be  caught 
up  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in 
the  air :  and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with 
the  Lord  "  (I.  Thess.  iv.  16,  17).  It  is 
there  that  the  Church  will  be  gathered 
into  one  complete  and  conscious  whole, 

"  Some  from  earth,  from  glory  some, 
Severed  only  Till  He  Come." 

and  so  He  will  "  present  the  Church  to 
Himself  a  glorious  Church,  not  having 
spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing" 
(Eph.  v.  27). 

That  will  be  an  event  of  the  utmost 
importance  as  we  shall  now  see  in  its 
bearing  on  the  future. 

4.  That  surely  is  finality.  No,  every- 
thing lies  beyond  that  in  the  vocation 
of  the  Church.  All  to  that  point  in 
the  history  of  individual  disciples  and 
of  the  whole  Church  has  been  prepar- 
atory. It  is  then  that  the  Church  is 
136 


The  Disciple  in  Glory 

ready  to  begin  her  great  mission  in  the 
purpose  and  counsel  of  God.  The  let- 
ter to  the  Ephesians  is  specially  occu- 
pied in  dealing  with  this  great  and 
stupendous  fact.  The  first  three  chap- 
ters deal  with  the  vocation  in  itself, 
and  the  remainder  make  application  of 
the  fact  of  that  calling  to  all  the  de- 
tailed life  of  the  believer  in  view 
thereof,  while  yet  in  this  place  of  prep- 
aration and  discipline.  Let  us  then  in 
concluding  this  study  on  Discipleship, 
very  reverently  read  the  words  in  the 
first  three  chapters  of  that  Epistle 
which  light  up  for  us  the  great  future. 
(Eph.  i.  18).  In  this  verse  occurs  a 
phrase  full  of  suggestiveness,  and  lead- 
ing to  the  statements  which  follow. 
"  The  riches  of  the  glory  of  His  inher- 
itance in  the  Saints."  That  our  inher- 
itance is  in  Him,  it  is  easy  for  us  to  un- 
derstand, but  we  are  at  once  arrested 
by  the  statement  that  He  has  an  inher- 
itance in  us.  And  ye  that  is  the  fact. 
God  has  an  inheritance  in  His  people, 
and  Paul's  prayer  is  that  these  Ephesian 
Christians  may  have  "  the  eyes  of  their 
heart  enlightened,  that  they  may  know 
137 


Discipleship 

what  is  the  hope  of  His  calling,  what 
the  riches  of  the  glory  of  His  inherit- 
ance in  the  Saints,  and  what  the  ex- 
ceeding greatness  of  His  power  to  us- 
ward  who  believe."  The  "  calling "  of 
God  is  the  vocation  of  the  Church.  As 
the  Church  fulfils  that  vocation,  God 
will  enter  into  His  inheritance  in  her. 
This  will  be  realized  by  the  power 
"  which  He  wrought  in  Christ  when  He 
raised  Him  from  the  dead."  In  the 
paragraphs  which  follow,  Paul  proceeds 
to  deal  with  the  final  purpose  of  God, 
and  with  the  process  by  which  this  will 
be  achieved.  We  are  now  interested 
only  in  that  final  purpose,  in  the  fulfill- 
ing of  which  God  will  Himself  possess 
His  inheritance  in  His  people,  and  so 
we  take  the  three  verses  which  de- 
clare it. 

(Eph.  ii.  7).  "  That  in  the  ages  to 
come  He  might  shew  the  exceeding 
riches  of  His  grace  in  kindness  toward 
us  in  Christ  Jesus."  The  phrase  "in 
the  ages  to  come  "  has  reference  to  the 
ages  of  the  Eternal  future.  What 
future  dispensations  there  may  be,  and 
what  the  movement  of  the  ages  none 
138 


The  Disciple  in  Glory 

can  tell  but  God  Himself.  Whatever 
these  may  be,  the  Church  is  to  be  the 
medium  of  shewing  forth  therein  "  the 
riches  of  His  grace."  "  When  those 
ages  are  to  learn  the  love  of  God's 
heart  they  are  to  do  so  by  the  testi- 
mony borne  by  the  ransomed  Church 
to  His  "  kindness  toward  us  in  Christ 
Jesus."  Our  vocation  then  contains 
within  it  the  mission  of  shewing  to  the 
ages  yet  unborn  that  love  of  God  which 
He  has  exhibited  to  us  in  Jesus. 

(Eph.  iii.  10.)  "  .  .  .  .  Now  unto  the 
principalities  and  the  powers  in  the 
heavenly  places  might  be  made  known 
through  the  Church  the  manifold  wis- 
dom of  God."  This  reveals  another 
phase  of  vocation.  The  Church  is  to 
reveal  to  the  unfallen  intelligences,  the 
principalities  and  powers  of  the  heaven- 
lies  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God.  These 
shining  ones  whose  glories  so  far  exceed 
anything  of  which  we  have  dreaded, 
whose  powers  of  comprehension  are  so 
wondrous,  will  only  know  through  the 
revelation  of  the  Church,  in  all  its  ful- 
ness the  manifold  wisdom  of  God. 

(Eph.  iii.  21.)  "  Unto  Him  be  glory  in 

139 


Discipleship 

the  Church  and  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  all 
generations  forever  and  ever."  Briefly 
stated  then,  the  vocation  of  the  Church, 
beyond  all  the  preparation  of  this  life, 
beyond  that  intermediate  state  in  which 
•some  now  are,  in  that  time  when  the 
Church  shall  be  completed  and  com- 
plete, is  to  reveal  the  grace  and  wisdom 
of  God  to  the  beings  of  other  dwelling 
places,  the  high  unf alien  ones  of  the 
heavenlies,  and  that  not  to  one  age  only, 
but  to  the  ages  of  the  ages  as  they  are 
known  only  to  the  mind  of  God.  In 
all  eternity  that  great  "  Now  "  of  God 
embracing  our  "past"  and  "future," 
there  has  been  no  such  proof  of  the 
grace  of  His  heart  and  the  wisdom  of 
His  workings  as  that  of  the  ransoming 
and  uplifting  in  spotless  purity  of  fallen 
man,  and  those  so  ransomed  and  up- 
lifted are  to  be  the  witnesses  to  the 
great  future  of  intelligence  concerning 
wondrous  and  overwhelming  truths. 
What  an  enormous  range  of  possibility 
does  this  view  of  the  Church's  future 
open  up  before  our  vision.  Our  finite 
surroundings  make  it  impossible  for  us 
to  comprehend  all  the  infinite  spaces 

140 


The  Disciple  in  Glory 

that  appear  only  to  us  as  blue  sky,  or 
darkling  night.  What  worlds  are  there, 
what  high  forms  of  pure  spirits,  what 
spaces  still  beyond,  and  what  yet  deeper 
spheres  of  habitable  places.  Thought 
is  bewildered  at  the  daring  of  its  own 
flight.  Then  what  changes  and  move- 
ments among  all  these  in  the  procession 
of  the  ages.  Remember  that  to  these 
worlds  and  these  beings  and  these  ages 
we  are  to  be  the  messengers  of  the  grace 
and  wisdom  and  glory  of  God.  In  that 
view  the  future  loses  its  sense  of  dread, 
and  one  looks  on  to  the  new  opportuni- 
ties for  art,  and  music,  and  poetry,  and 
above  all  perchance  of  preaching,  that 
are  coming  to  the  ransomed  ones  when 
the  discipline  of  time  is  merged  into  the 
fitness  of  eternity,  with  reverent  and 
holy  desire. 

Some  one  ma}'  say  that  is  pure  imag- 
ining. Well  it  certainly  is  imagination 
well  within  the  limit  of  the  possibilities 
of  these  words  of  the  apostle,  who  had 
been  caught  up  into  the  third  heaven 
and  had  seen  things  unutterable.  Mark 
how  he  closes  this  section. 

(Eph.  iii.  20,21.)  "  Now  unto  Him  that 

141 


Discipleship 

is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly 
above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  accord- 
ing to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us, 
unto  Him,  be  glory  in  the  Church  and 
in  Christ  Jesus  unto  all  generations  for- 
ever and  ever." 

So  that  the  wildest  flights  of  thought 
are  far  short  of  the  possibilities  of  what 
God  is  able  "  to  do." 

This  is  but  a  faint  glimpse  then  of 
the  glory  of  which  Paul  said  "  I  reckon 
that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time 
are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the 
glory  that  shall  be  revealed  to  usward  " 
(Rom.  viii.  18),  but  it  is  enough  to  turn 
the  heart  of  the  disciple  with  fuller 
purpose  of  consecration  to  that  Beloved 
One  who  with  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
that  future,  too  splendid  yet  for  our 
comprehension,  is  teaching  and  training 
us  ever  with  that  in  view. 

How  better  can  we  close  this  contem- 
plation of  discipleship,  in  its  beginning, 
progress  and  consummation,  than  in  the 
words  of  Paul  to  these  Ephesians  (iv.  1). 
"  I  therefore  ....  beseech  you  to  walk 
worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  ye 
were  called." 

142 


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